a star for a knight
by crowEn
Summary: au in which Sirius escapes prison earlier than in PoA and finds an unlikely place to hide. a little sbXlm sbXss and maybe some more as Sirius gets around to it
1. in which a stray dog finds a home

I once read a perfectly lovely fanfiction (the name I will not say, because I don't want to cause…'drama') but I was under the impression that it would eventually lead up to some sort of torrid love affair. After about ten chapters I had the disappointing realization that they had become only the best of friends and would remain so for the next ten chapters.

In lieu of the passionate sexytimes that never were, I write this, not as a mockery, or parody of anyone else's work, simply something that was inspired by a sweet story that I wished was less sweet.

* * *

Draco was not what could have been considered, at best, a pleasant child, though to anyone who knew his parents it did not come as much of a surprise that he would have been more than a little spoiled. As Sirius watched his cousin, he couldn't help but feel pity for the poor child sitting despondently in his pram and watching the troop of acrobats performing hypnotic and thrilling movements that had captivated the attention of all of the other children as well as adults. The boy was only three years old and already had the same board, superior sneer as his father.

Sirius snorted softly, flexing his short toes in the light layer of snow that coated the sloping landscape where he sat tucked and hidden from sight behind a topiary resembling a sleeping dragon. Looking back, he still could not think of any real reason to be here, on the Malfoy's property, besides the fact that it was definitively one of the last places that anyone would ever come to look for him. He had fled Azkaban only days before and his deprived and confused mind had led him to his cousin Narcissa and taken his body with it.

He liked to think it was the smell of food, real food, not any unfortunate, uncooked squirrels, but a proper birthday feast that had led him to the property. But he would never know for sure what sort of misguided providence had led him to the house.

His mouth watered and he licked at his chops, shifting his gaze from the platinum haired prince of the party, to the extravagantly spread tables that held a meal that would have made the Welcoming feast at Hogwarts look like a mere picnic by comparison.

Slinking slowly, dragging his dark belly in the cold slurry of snow, he edged closer to the table, keeping a close eye on the house elves that lingered nearby in case any of the few hundred guests needed something. By the time he ducked beneath the green and silver table cloths he was drooling on himself. He could honestly not recall the last time he had eaten a meal and he could not find the strength to deny himself further when such a bounty was laid out for him.

Steamed dumplings, thinly sliced hippogryph thighs, snozberry fritters and stuffed pumpkins all vanished to the underside of the tables and were gobbled down without regret or caution. Sirius ate until his emaciated dog belly had become grossly distended and he worried that he might get sick all over the well manicured lawn.

He slept then, and much like his meals, it had been ages since he had indulged himself.

He woke to his ears being pulled, and whereas it never ceased to amaze him how much more sensitive his ears were when he was in his animagus form, by no means did it mean that he appreciated the intrusion on his much needed sleep. Out of habit more than malice he bore his teeth before even bothering to open his eyes. The youthful squeal that followed was enough to rouse him fully from his sleep, or at least enough for him to get his barring and realize just who the silver eyed child, who still stubbornly held his ear, could be. Retracting his teeth was not enough to comfort the adults that had gathered round the table to rescue the poor child from the vicious creature he had so innocently been pulling on with his sharp little talons.

Lucius was the one to scoop his son up into his arms and to relative safety while other adults and wide eyed children watched the bedraggled mutt with disgust and fear.

"Did it bite him?" Narcissa pressed close to her husband, checking over the pristine and unbroken skin of her only child's arms. "What a horrible beast." She fingered her wand that was tucked into the folds of her perfectly tailored skirt, but she spoke softly to Lucius. "Dear, get rid of it before it does something awful."

Sirius, realizing that he was suddenly in no small amount of danger hunched his back and tried to find somewhere beneath the table that would be suitable to hide.

"No, Mommy." Draco's voice, although was pitched in the dulcet tones of untainted youth, was quite clear and commanding. "Mine."

"Oh, honey, no." she soothed, taking him into her arms and balancing him against a hip. "Not that filthy thing."

"My birthday." He pouted, his bale pink lips turning down in an ominous pout. "My doggy."

Narcissa looked helplessly at her husband as if to say 'how am I to tell him no?' and by the look on Lucius' face he knew that his wife was crumbling already. "Draco, come see all of the presents for you." He gestured grandly to the impressive mountain of gifts.

The boy leaned suddenly in his mothers' arms, practically throwing himself down to the grown. "Doggy!" It was not yet a cry but it was getting close and Sirius felt his ears flatten themselves to his head in preparation for the horrible noises that he was sure were to come any moment.

"Lucius," Narcissa started softly, looking still with distain at the malnourished animal cowering under the table.

He gave her a kind, but warning look and Sirius had to admit that from such a towering height, the man was somewhat intimidating. Black had realized only too late that perhaps he had picked the worst possible place to try and recover.

As if he sensed in his parents the fact that they were on the verge of denying him one of his whims Draco pitched himself about in his mother's arms, arching his small back and sobbing, quite suddenly and hysterically.

Lucius looked stern, but his sour expression crumbled in moments and he patted his son gently. "Alright, Draco. You can keep the mutt." He nodded to a wayward house elf. "Get that thing cleaned up, it smells horrible."

Draco stopped his crying immediately and clapped his hands "Doggy. I love him." He beamed at his father then looked at the mountain of presents, already loosing interest in Sirius. "Presents!" he demanded and his mother set him down, letting him trot on short legs to the monolith of gifts that had been constructed in celebration of his birth.

"Oh, Lucius, that was sweet of you." Narcissa said in an almost teasing manner, gently taking her husband's offered arm and turning her back on the mangy black dog.

"He will be tired of the thing by the end of the week and we can send it off to a meat packing factory." He said with a sniff as he led her away.

Sirius let the house elves manhandle him and drag him towards the house. The thought of a bath was enough to keep him from running back off into the woods. A bath and a few days to regain his strength and he would be gone before the master of the house could give a second thought to that meat factory.


	2. in which Sirius earns a name

It was that first night, with Sirius freshly scrubbed and collared, that the dementors came looking for him. He had known that they would come in time, but he had only assumed that it would take weeks, not days for them to notice he was no longer in his cell at Azkaban.

Sirius was wedged comfortably between Draco and a plush ashwinder with magically glowing velvet eggs. Cluttering the bed were other various birthday presents, including but not limited to a sleek training broom, a box of Belgian sweeties, five charmed picture books, and two pairs of leather kid boots (all of which, including Sirius, had been required by Draco before he was willing to go to sleep for the night) .

It was comfortable other than the small fist balled around his left ear, holding it awkwardly against his skull, and the chilled child toes digging into his ribs. Despite the clinging child and the heavy leather collar that Lucius had made the house elves put on him, Sirius was content for the first time in years. Warm and well fed, it was all he could ask for.

As the fire in the grate sputtered and each of Draco's sleepy breaths started to hang in the air like silver clouds, Sirius knew what was wrong. Pulling his ear free he raised his head, looking in a panic at the large French windows, and there, on the east facing wall, was one of the shadows that had haunted his nightmares as well as his days for as long as he had been in Azkaban.

The dementor slid the window open soundlessly, letting in lazy swirls of snow that clung damply to the carpet.

Sirius ran, knocking toys and child alike aside in his mad dash from the bedroom. He wouldn't go back to that hell hole of a prison, not now that he was finally free of it, not when he had so much to do. He was halfway down the great staircase when he heard the child crying. The daemons had come for him, and as much as he wanted to fight against his Gryffindor bravery, he could not bring himself to abandon the defenseless child, not even if he was a Malfoy, not even if it put Sirius in danger of being caught again.

He barreled back into the room, knocking aside the dementor that was hungrily wrapping its lips around the quivering child. The room became a flurry of growls and yelps, bristling fur and snarling teeth as the great black dog tangled with the skeletal figure. The cold hands that sought to pull off the gnashing beast were as cold as death. Grey, claw like hands grasped at Sirius' limbs and tail as the creature absently tried to free its self, swatting at him as if he were no more than a troublesome gnat. The bitter cold was slowing down Sirius' movements, digging icy pain into each joint as his erratic movements became harder and harder, it was all he could do to keep the creature away from the sobbing babe.

Lucius was there suddenly, wand exposed in preparation to kill the dog that he had not trusted near his son since the thing came into his house. Sirius did not know what happened then as the world tilted and his eyes grew dim, but he thought he caught a glimmer of shining silver before his head cracked painfully against the stone mantle of the fireplace.

He woke with his head on Narcissa's lap, the luxurious fabric of her dressing gown cool against his rough fur. He blearily looked up at her as she spoke in hushed tones to Lucius who sat beside her holding their sleeping son.

"I just don't understand why that thing would come this far from Azkaban." Her voice was calm, but her trembling fingers betrayed her where they caressed the ridges over Sirius' eyes.

"Probably looking for that useless cousin of yours." Lucius said softly and had the grace to give her a sympathetic look. "I reinforced the charms on the house and neither Black or those things will be getting in again." He comforted her, placing a hand on her arm.

"What would have happened if he wasn't there to save Draco?" She asked in hushed tones, as if the mere thought was too horrible to consider.

Sirius realized that both fair-haired purebloods were looking at him. Had he saved Draco? Dimly he knew that he must have and sniffed in dismay. The whole event seemed a bit of a blur with the soft glow of the early morning sun filtering in through the still falling snow outside. He had no idea what had possessed him to act so foolishly, so self deprecatingly.

They must have taken his pathetic noise as a good thing, which it wasn't, and they both wore twin, close lipped smiles.

"Luckily I was ready and got him such a loyal guard dog." Lucius' smile turned so easily to a smirk as his wife lay her head on his shoulder.

"We are lucky to have such a thoughtful man in the house, and such a dog." She relaxed against him, her fingers still gently stroking Sirius and the felling was so calming that he couldn't even be bothered by what Lucius said next.

"Magnus." He formed the name carefully and with great thoughtfulness.

"Magnus?" Narcissa smiled up at him.

"It's his name."

Sirius snorted again and Narcissa scratched at the base of his neck. "It's perfect."

The next day a shining silver name tag was added to his heavy collar and despite the bitterness Sirius felt at such a bloody awful name that should only be reserved for porn stars and distinguished older men with impressive moustaches, the four inch thick dragon steak he received, sitting in a richly dark puddle of its own juices would just have to be compensation enough.

* * *

It was hard to come up with a good, strong pretentious name. My beta and coworkers felt 'Mangnus' sounded like a condom brand... and that is how I knew it was perfect.


	3. in which Lucius gets a new suit

I seem to be veering far from the original plan... but here we go.

Bath after bath was inflicted on Sirius until it was decided that his slightly matted and semi louse ridden fur was not salvageable. By the end of the week he had been removed from his fur and left a slightly emaciated, pale pink, shivering dog with death in his eyes. Draco liked his naked pet and seemed pleased with the comical figure that Sirius struck. Luckily Lucius refused to have such a pathetic looking pet in their house, and a simple charm later his fur had come back in, darker and more silken than it had ever been in his life.

Narcissa looked pleased and stroked his long ears gently. "That's so much better, don't you think, Draco?" She smiled at her son who seemed non-pulsed by the beautiful example of canine beauty and simply grabbed Sirius by the collar in an attempt to pull himself up and go for a ride.

Sirius was amazed at his own patience with being constantly grabbed and pulled and pinched by the whiny little child, but figured it must be due to the fact that he was full and felt safe. In all of his generosity, he allowed for the little boy (his mother holding him around the waist) to take a short and clumsy ride around the hall. However Sirius flatly refused to give rides to Draco's 'playmate' Pansy, who came over once a week so that her and Draco's mothers could sit and plan their future wedding and gossip about all of the other pureblood, entitled women in their aristocratic strata. When Pansy was over, Sirius would hide, either under furniture or behind Narcissa. And he felt no shame taking shelter behind a woman. The child was a monster and had bitten Sirius on more than one occasion.

One such afternoon, while Pansy and Draco fought over intricate silver shapes and who would be the one to find the properly fitting hole in the box, Sirius had taken up his hiding on the couch beside is cousin. IF he could ignore her 'pureblood' idealist ways, she wasn't so bad and her long, perfectly manicured nails felt positively divine on his scalp. Even if the elves had announced him 'flea free' he swore he could still feel their tiny feet and teeth on him at times in places he could not reach without her help.

"You know Valfore," Pansy's mother, Persephone was talking and Sirius only half listening to the gossip, "he comes home from a long day of nothing, has a bit to drink and is out for the night. You're so lucky, 'Cissa to have a proper, handsome husband like Lucius. My old Valfore hardly has any passion anymore, even when I slip a bit of amortentia into his drinks." Persephone was a harsh looking woman with cruel eyes and hardly any lips or breasts. Sirius thought to himself that her husband might have the right idea in simply drinking himself to sleep.

Narcissa smiled sympathetically. "Lucius has never been what I would call 'passionate' either." She said glancing sidelong at the children as if to make sure that their young ears would not be able to hear such adult conversations, that frankly, Sirius was unsure if he wanted to listen to either.

"Really? With those fine, strong shoulders and big hands?" Persephone grinned wickedly, licking her nonexistent lips at the thought and Sirius felt ill. It was the constant scratching, and only that which kept him from flying away from the couch and finding a good place to lose his lunch.

Narcissa sighed softly, rubbing her thumb along the curve of Sirius' jaw. "Not like he used to be. He has… his little troubles."

"Little? Oh those are the worst kind." Persephone bemoaned, but could not contain an almost schoolgirl like giggle.

Laughing now also, but in a coyer, more lady like fashion, Narcissa shook her head. "No no, nothing like that. Every inch of Lucius is impressive and far from disappointing." She lowered her voice. "Some times he just… you know."

Sirius slunk off of the couch and beat a hasty retreat to the kitchen. He could not, and would not sit and listen to the women discus the skills and or physical attributes that they wish that their husbands possessed. Though he had to admit, as the house elf set some meat on the floor in a gilded dish for him, he was quite amused to hear of Lucius 'little' problem.

Though his stomach still had not settled from the ladies 'sexy talk' he found the strength to wolf down the food before him. He watched as one of the house elves left to greet a guest who had just arrived via floo. Following simply out of curiosity to see who else could be coming over, Sirius trotted after.

Two fine looking Italian men stood before the fireplace, lazily straightening their pinstriped suits and curling black hair. They carried a trunk between the two of them, it was heavy looking and all gilded leather and engraved. The taller of the two (and in Sirius' opinion the more handsome, though it was difficult to choose) floated the trunk down the hall with an effortless swish of his wand.

Sirius followed their slender, well dressed, backsides down the hall to Lucius' dressing room where the tall and pale man was nowhere in sight. Finding a comfortable place to lay, the animagus enjoyed the view as the two men pulled from their trunk a sleek black suit and dusted the non dusty lapels and argued softly to each other in Italian.

Finally feeling a need to grace his tailors with his presence, Lucius entered the room with a closely guarded smile and a nod to the men. "Ah, Finnuchi brothers, is it done then?" He touched the sleeve of the suit with two ivory fingers.

"This will be the final fitting, Missour Malfoy." The shorter brother said in his smooth, baritone voice.

"I need it by tonight. I have a meeting at Gringotts and I need to look immaculate."

"Oh, we make you look good." The taller said with a well oiled smile. "Now take your pants off."

Sirius watched the two cinnamon skinned brothers dress Lucius, hemming and pinning until the pureblood looked less like a wizard and more like a dark god. Sirius found it hard to take his eyes from the tailors and their firm backsides as they bent and stooped while they worked. Even though he had been almost two years in Azkaban without any human contact (physical or otherwise) and he found himself craving those simple lustful pleasures more each day, he found his gaze drifting from the two well toned Italian Adonis, to Lucius' slender body. There were no notable imperfections or any 'little problems' that the gossiping ladies had been speaking of. He was all alabaster skin and sinewy muscles and a steely gaze that comically drifted to the narrow backsides of the hard working brothers. It was the same lust heated gaze that Sirius felt in his own eyes.

A suspicion grew in Sirius, one so strange he could not put words to it until the fitting was complete and Lucius stood admiring his reflection in one of the many mirrors. "Perfect." He praised in a disinterested drawl. "I have a business meeting in Paris next week and will need another suit for it. Something with a hint of emerald I think."

"For our best customer, anything." The shorter brother said, grinning.

"I think it would be best if you retook my measurements."

"This will be Missour Malfoy's forty-eighth suit, your measurements have never changed." He was chuckling softy, but getting out a silken measure tape.

"My son just had his birthday and I partook of more than my share of deserts. I feel it is best… just in case." He stood stalk still while the brothers moved their nimble hands over his lithe body, never blinking even when they took the most indecent of measurements. When it was decided that, indeed, no inch on his perfect body had changed the two men left, smiling to each other.

Lucius sat back on a fainting couch, careful not to let his perfect new suit wrinkle. He sighed in a lustful, longing way and Sirius, with only one glance at the man's trousers that had become marginally too tight, finally understood what Narcissa meant by 'little problem'.


	4. in which every person has thumbs

sorry, this one seems to have taken me a day and forever to get around to writing. I've actually been expected to work... at work (imagine the audacity!)and have had to put this on the back burner.

but here it is. More shnanagans and the plot will resume next chapter... whenever I get around to that.

* * *

Not being able to pass the wards around Malfoy Manor (as they had been specifically rafted to not allow for Sirius Black to cross them) he found himself trotting around and quivering with excitement whenever a visitor would come. As the strangers, who more often than not were other purebloods, would come to visit their colleges, Sirius would be granted unlimited access to their private conversations. No one minded the lurking black dog at their feet. They were limited and bias windows to the world that he had been pulled from two years prior, but it was better than nothing.

He quickly grew weary of Narcissa's conversations of clothing styles and bedroom tips, but Lucius always seemed to have the most interesting company. Death Eaters came and went with no word as to where their Dark Lord hand gone. Businessmen came with briefcases filled with sickles and gems, or suspicious looking magical items that Sirius would bet were illegal. Charity collectors came during the holiday months and, much to Black's surprise, Lucius was oddly giving. Witches Without Wands received almost four hundred galleons and even Narcissa looked surprised by the charity.

"Tax deductions." Lucius replied sweetly kissing her fingertips. Though Sirius had suspicions that it mostly had to do with the family trying to recover face in the wizarding world with Voldemort gone and the Malfoys no longer Death Eaters.

Truly, Sirius' favorite guests were not the charity collectors, but the tailors. The two brothers were at the Manor at least once a week for fittings and measurements and other little alterations that were seemingly pointless. Whether or not they knew of the forbidden fantasies that passed through Lucius' eyes after they left, remained a mystery to Sirius; but the whole event, from their arrival to the quiet, cold showers Lucius took after their departure, filled the black dog with endless entertainment.

Sirius kept the 'problem' a secret, just as Narcissa did, more or less. The thought that such a high standing, proper sort of man could be so overwhelmed by un-satiated lust, tickled him. Sirius himself had fancied a bloke or two (or twelve) in his own time, so to say that he found Lucius' preferences as amusing as he did would be to say that Sirius Black was a little something of a hypocrite.

Sirius Black was many things, but a little hypocritical, no. He was a large hypocrite and as such found himself scheming ways to out Lucius in public. He blamed his years at Hogwarts with nothing better to do with himself than play cruel and unusual pranks on unsuspecting prats like Lucius. With the large age gap between them, Sirius had missed out on all opportunities to shame the older man back when they were in school, and Sirius (in his increasing cabin fever) had intentions to make up for so many lost years.

It started one soggy, winter morning after Sirius had had a full run of the Manor for almost four months. It was a Thursday, and Sirius had never truly gotten the hang of Thursdays, but with Lucius out of the house for the whole day on business to the Isle of White, he could hardly pass up the chance. Draco, like a determined little puppy, followed Sirius around the house, up the stairs, through his parent's overly large bedroom and into Lucius' dressing room. The whole journey took longer than necessary, but with Draco's short toddler legs not always doing what he asked of them, they had been forced to take a few breaks and detours. As the child busied himself with trying on his father's expensive, dragon skinned shoes, Sirius nosed through the two score of suits that hung neatly on the seemingly endless racks. There he found his prize.

It should be noted that despite the wide array of suit in Lucius' possession there was very little color variation. Black, charcoal grey and the barest hints of silver or green were what dominated the expansive closet, but tucked into the back corner, probably not touched or thought about since its creation in the mid seventies was a relic of wizarding fashion that had not seen the light of day in at least a decade. It was so painfully 'stylish' it was glorious and Sirius knew that it would be perfect for the Malfoy's Christmas masquerade.

Ignoring Draco's yelp of surprise, Sirius found his human form. It had been months since he left Azkaban, months since he had the evolutionary miracle of thumbs. He stretched and grinned at Draco, holding one long finger over his lips, asking silently for the boy to keep quiet. He slipped out of his old, tattered clothes from Azkaban and stretched. It felt amazing to be full sized again. He paused, kicking aside the old prison uniform, and looked at his reflection in the expansive wall mirrors. The few months of regular feeding and baths and chasing the young Draco had done wonders for his body. No longer was he a straggly mad man covered in filth from his imprisonment. He was lean, with still only a shadow of his former muscle definition, but fit. His dark hair was silken, falling in short waves around his pale face.

He grinned at his striking self and slipped into the retro suit. Draco was laughing and tugging on him, but that was normal.

"I don't know if I've ever seen a suit this… bloody awful." He scooped up the small child awkwardly, letting the boy experimentally touch Sirius' well trimmed facial hair. "Did your dad loose a bet?"

"Father?" He chirped in his soft voice, looking from side to side as if expecting to see the man, but his attentions focused quickly back on the man holding him. "My dog." He patted Sirius' cheeks and seemed satisfied. "I wanna' ride." And he pointed at the ground.

"Alright." He had spent long enough admiring himself, or at least he had spent as long as he dared. Narcissa could come looking for them any moment. He shifted back down to his furrier form, the suit morphing with him. It was a successful theft and he was now ready for the Christmas party. He ducked his head low in an almost bow to his small and demanding master and let the boy clumsily clamor onto his long narrow back.

The discarded uniform was tossed into the closest fireplace he could find and all that was left was to wait until Christmas eve and he could move into phase two of his plan.


	5. in which a promise is made to a friend

I used to harbor some illusion that I wold have this and the next chapter done before Christmas... and well, today is new year's eve eve, so you can see how well that worked for me. Here it is anyways and hopefully the next chapter will be done by Saturday and we will just pretend that they were in time.

* * *

Christmas came upon the Malfoy household as swiftly as Christmas always seemed to come to adults who never had enough time to fit every detail of the season into the measly twenty-five days allotted to the month of December. Sirius felt a sort of warmth to be included in the family's preparation for the holiday, almost enough closeness and acceptance that by the night before Christmas eve he had began to reconsider his plans to 'out' Lucius during the coming party.

The manor was quiet that night. Narcissa had left on one last trip to Paris for a bit of last minute shopping for her friends. Draco had fallen asleep against his father's narrow chest after a lengthy and animated retelling of the tail of Babbitty Rabbitty, and Sirius followed in echoing silence as Lucius carefully made his way to his son's room to lay him down in his gorgeously decorated bed. Both men, one tall and pale, the other in the guise of a dog watched the sleeping infant and his cherubic face with something akin to father like pride. Although Sirius was far from the child's parent, he honestly was able to spend much more time with the boy than either of his parents and found it hard to even fathom falling asleep at night without one of the ivory hands tangled in the scruff around his neck, or the smell of chocolate milk-breath tickling his nose as he drifted towards dream far gentler than he had been afforded for years.

One of Lucius' hands found Black's long ears and gave an almost affectionate tug as the man silently walked from the room. Sirius watched Draco for another heart beat before padding after the delicate man. The man rarely did exciting things in the evening, but sometimes with his wife gone he would suddenly require another suit and the Finnuchi Bothers would come with their nimble fingers and silken measuring tapes. The events were as entertaining to watch as they were blissfully pathetic to Sirius, watching Lucius sternly being touched by the two dashing Italians and never once letting the lust into his pale eyes until they had left.

That night, Lucius did not summon the brothers, but retreated to his den. Sirius followed on his heels, wagging lazily as he threw himself down on the fun carpet adjacent to the great hearth that held captive a roaring fire against the chill of late December. The master of the house made his way to an oversized, taxidermy albino bear, with its powerful arms outstretched to hold a silver inlaid cigar case. Lucius indulged himself on the bitter sweet smoke in calm quiet. It was a luxury that Narcissa disapproved of and so was reserved for the nights when she was out spending his money.

Sirius watched the pale pureblood blowing charmed smoke rings that swirled as vaporous serpents before dancing away to vanish in the upper reaches of the vaulted ceiling. The sight of his thin lips curved so lazily up in a smile around the thick cigar did strange things to Sirius' belly and he had to roll over and face the fire before it became too much and he was forced to change back into a man and pounce.

"Were you and Draco playing outside today, Magnus?" One pointy toed, leather shoe found Sirius' tail with the gentlest of prods. No answer was expected, because he was after all, talking to a dog. "You smell like," he wrinkled his nose in thought before finishing, "sin… or manure." He stood, putting out the small blunt left of the once overly large cigar before ringing a bell beside the fire. Almost before the chime had faded a house elf stood beside them.

"Yes, Master?"

"Magnus is to be bathed."

Sirius sighed deeply. It wasn't that he minded being cleaned so much as he disliked the elves tiny hands scrubbing his sensitive joints and foot pads. Also, he had spent almost ten whole minutes rolling over the freshly planted flower bulbs, trying his hardest to garner up every last particle of the rich, earthen scent and it would be a shame to see all of his hard work washed down the drain.

"Of course, Master." The elf bowed deeply as it took hold of Sirius' collar.

"Have a bath drawn for me as well." Lucius had already loosened his tie to expose a tantalizing length of alabaster neck.

At this Sirius wagged and willingly let himself be dragged down the hallways to the bath. It was a great tiled room from top to bottom in creams and blues with a tub set in the corner big enough to fit seven people comfortably, but the porcelain basin was not the destination that the elf had in mind. Instead he was dragged to a small silver child's tub that matched Draco's own bath. It was portable and fit the hulking dog shape with ease. Said black dog sat in the tub, waiting while the elf dumped bucket after bucket full of hot soapy water over his head, scrubbing away every last delicate scent from the day's adventure.

Much to his surprise as well as the startled looking elf, Lucius entered shortly, draped in a fine silken robe of the deepest midnight black. His eyes darted to the still empty bathtub, then to the elf and dog. "My tub is still empty." There was a warning edge to his words the let the bucket slip free of the elves hands and roll over the floor.

"Master wanted to bathe with the dog?" The pitiful thing questioned in shock.

In a benevolent mood, Lucius did little other then press a hand wearily over his eyes. "The dog in his tub and me in my own. This shouldn't be so complicated." He muttered the last to himself.

"Of course, Master." The elf fled from Sirius' side and dashed to the tub, filling it as quickly as possible with steaming water and fragrant oils.

Regardless of the others still occupying the room, or perhaps it was that Lucius did not consider an elf and moist dog to be voyeurs that he should worry about, the man slipped out of his robe, letting it pool around his ankles. He should have worried, not about the elf, but about Sirius, who greedily took in every inch of exposed, perfect skin. Narcissa had not lied, every inch was impressive and far from disappointing, from the arch of his prominent clavicles to the lean muscles curving over almost delicate hip bones.

'_My mouth would fit perfectly right there'._ Sirius could not take his eyes from the sloping plane of perfect flesh stretched tight over the lightly toned abdomen. His thoughts had quickly run away from him as his gaze did the same, drinking in every last mouthful he could take as the man walked thoughtlessly through the last few steps to his tub. Sirius had always preferred his women to be made up of soft curves and feminine arches and his men to be hard muscle and as lanky as himself. But as Lucius bent over to experimentally test the water temperature with one slow hand the only thing left in Black's mind was a resounding and appreciative '_woof _.' Out loud it was more of a sultry and suggestive growl that froze Malfoy where he stood.

Their eyes met over the awkward silence that followed and for a moment, Sirius worried that his disguise had been seen through, that he had done too much, gone too far. Then Lucius laughed. It was a rich warm sound that did worse things to Sirius than the cigar had earlier. "Strange dog." He muttered through the deep chuckle as he lowered himself into this bath.

Sirius' mouth had gone dry and he could not find the strength of mind to even wag his tail as the house elf finished scrubbing his back, or even when he was dried off and given a light snack before crawling into bed with Draco.

He was pushing his luck. If he was discovered, no matter who thought that he had been a death eater in disguise during the rise and fall of Voldemort, he would be turned away. Not even the Malfoys, regardless of his relation to Narcissa, would keep a 'criminal' like him harbored in their house. He couldn't let them discover that they had been doing just that for months already. The last thing that he needed was for Lucius to guess that his son's pet was anything other than a bumbling mutt.

Perhaps it would be foolish to parade around as a man during the masquerade the following night. It was almost inviting disaster and asking for a one way ticket back to Azkaban.

He settled in beside the child, making up his mind to stay hidden. There was nothing to be done for the time being, he still had not heard word of Peter since that fateful Halloween two years before and would need a proper wand before any proper plans for vengance could be inacted.

Lucius came into the room an hour later to bid his son goodnight. The dim light filtering in from the hall touched Sirius' face, rousing him from a foggy dream of chasing a knarl over and through the flower beds. He watched sleepily as the distinguished man kissed the platinum hair crowning his son's head. He could have left then and spared himself from any of Sirius' conniving ploys of mischief. But he hesitated, looking at the beast guarding his only child's sleep and smiled a secret smile for only the two of them. With one hand he gave Black's exposed belly a hearty scratching, chuckling softly as one back leg began to buck and kick heedless of its owner's intentions to stay half asleep. Then, as if satisfied, he gave Sirius a wink and left the bedside, disappearing off down the hall.

Sirius lay there in his warm nest of blankets, feeling the kicking in his leg finally start to wind down and he knew that it would be a shame and a disgrace to everything that he and James ever held dear, to waste such a beautiful scheme.

So, in loving memory of his best mate, he vowed to carry on with his original plan. He would expose Lucius in the most glorious, most flagrant, inexcusably fabulous way possible.


	6. in which Sirius gets a serious snoging

The sounds and smells of the party were somewhat intoxicating to Sirius, so much so that he was trembling with relief to be in a form with less acute senses. Even with his dim human ears the chattering and music was somewhat overwhelming.

Evergreen boughs and glittering silver tinsel had been draped meticulously over each arching doorway and over every polished banister, entwined with enchanted bells that tinkled a soft harmony, adding to the din of the house, but not in an unpleasant way. The whole of Malfoy Manor was decked from floor to vaulted ceiling in festive colors and rich smells of the holiday, as were the laughing guests. Most were, in what Sirius considered, dressed in 'rich people costumes' consisting of generic 'expensive' clothing and subtle masks.

It was the subtleness of their attire that made Sirius stand out with the others who had not received enough sense to know that a masquerade no longer had much to do with the clothes but was merely an excuse to slip a bit of cloth or gold around one's eyes.

Sirius had dressed and preened before one of the houses many ornate mirrors for nearly an hour before settling a pilfered mask in place and casually joining the milling throng of guests only to discover that he was amongst a generous group of five others who had dressed themselves in clothing that should be considered appropriate for what they thought they were attending. It was not necessarily awkward, no one pointed and laughed, but there were sidelong glances and muffled chuckles. Sirius only minded for as long as it took him to find the table of food. The guests could stair all they wanted, he knew that not only did he look damn fine, but he was dressed properly for the occasion.

He absently straightened one of the many, many diamond inlaid lapels of his powder blue tuxedo before claiming a small sandwich and maneuvering it beneath his ornate silver dragon's mask and into his waiting mouth. He felt that the blue silver of the mask went perfectly with the simmering blue, long tailed tuxedo and long, pointy toed shoes. He had been lucky enough to find a shirt with cranberry colored ruffles over the breast and on the edges of the sleeves to hide his hands. It was an absurd outfit, he knew, but as he found another sandwich slipping past his lips, he didn't care. It wasn't like he spent money on the crazy get up, that was all Lucius. And only Merlin knew why he owned such a god awful outfit in the first place.

He hovered around the banquet tables, pilfering morsels of pumpkin pasties and orange glazed meat on tiny pieces of bread, eyeing the room through the glassy golden eyes of his mask, trying to find the best place to throw his plan into action.

He was putting thoughtful consideration into the twenty foot tall Christmas tree as a likely place for a quick and dirty snog when he had the unmistakable and overwhelming feeling that he was being watched. He did not have far to look to find a man almost his own height no more than an arm's reach from him watching with glassy black eyes. From the strong scent of spiced rum, it was apparent that his eyes were glazed from the alcohol, but they matched the rest of him well enough. He was a slender man, tall like Sirius, but dressed wholly in black, from the top of his thick ebony hair to the long pinion feathers that hung like wings from his billowing sleeves. His mask was simple and also black, shaped like a curved raven's head that his most of his face. If it weren't for the scattering of feathers, mask and rum he could have been any random wizard anywhere, but Sirius was happy to see someone else at least putting forth a marginal effort into wearing a costume.

"You do know that those are dragon fillets?" The man's words were slurred with rum and holiday merriment at the powder blue disaster slipping yet another morsel of meat beneath his mask.

"And?" Sirius chewed slowly, considering the low, soft tone of the man beside him.

"Aren't you dressed as a dragon?"

"I'm sure I wouldn't be the first dragon to enjoy the flesh of a fallen comrade." He grinned, even though he knew it would be missed beneath the intricately hammered silver of his mask.

"I'm sure." The man drawled slowly, reaching past Sirius to sample some of the very same filets.

"And what are you supposed to be?" Sirius caught another whiff of the slightly swaying man as he leaned against the table, carefully eating his food as if each chew took far more effort and concentration than it should.

"Cupid." He replied dryly, with not even the barest hint of a smile in his dark eyes.

Sirius looked again at the midnight garb and smiled. "I don't see any arrows. I thought cupid needed arrows."

"I keep them well hidden."

"Oh, do you know?" Sirius couldn't be sure whether or not he was being teased simply by how calm and non pulsed the other man's words were.

"Yes, scads and scads of them, all tucked away until I see any unfortunate couple lingering too near the mistletoe." His eyes lingered on Sirius perhaps a little too long before his gaze drifted back to the crowded, happy room. "Would you like to see them?"

Sirius thought about that offer and what it might imply. Certainly the man was not Lucius, but it couldn't hurt to warm up a bit, he was after all marginally out of practice and the man offering was more than marginally drunk. "I don't see why not?"

They walked across the room, keeping to the less then well lit corners with their gentle candle light, until they found themselves tucked up behind the Christmas tree and a grandfather clock that slowly ticked by the few seconds it took for their masks to be pressed aside enough for their mouths to meet. It was overly warm in their hidey-hole, entwined as they were, not like old lovers, just like two people in a space hardly meant for one. The heat was soon easy to ignore as the drunken kisses deepened and hands began to wander. The strange cupid tasted much as he had smelt, like rum and sweets, but under those were the taste of bitter herbs and something that Sirius could not name, but found to be more than slightly intoxicating.

He could not be sure how long they were together between the old clock and the crisp boughs of the pine tree, but Sirius felt that perhaps it had been a bit too long when he heard a somewhat familiar masculine voice calling softly.

"Severus, are you back here? Narcissa said you wanted to say goodnight to Draco before- oh!" there was only mild surprise to the end of his words, as if Lucius was not wholly shocked to see the man he was looking for in the tangled embrace of another gentleman.

He was saying something else, something about Merlin's beard and his suit, but Sirius heard none of it. A name was echoing in his head and perhaps it was a bit of the brandy he had sampled along with his snacks earlier, or a bit of the slovenly amounts of rum his partner had partook of earlier in the evening had transferred by way of moist, lingering kisses, but the name seemed important, though he could not for the life of himself remember whose name it was. "Severus…" he tried it out, feeling the slow three syllables roll off of his bruised lips. "Severus?" Suddenly his stomach dropped near to the vicinity of his long, pointed shoes and he could taste bile overwhelming the flavors he had been only moments ago enjoying. "Severus!"

The man in black had pushed his mask far enough from his narrow face to show the unmistakable curve of his hooked nose as he rubbed at his eyes and temple. "Bloody hell, stop shouting. I'm drunk, not deaf." He took a slow breath. "Tell her I'll be right out, Lucius." He said in a dimmable calm manner.

"But… that's my suit." Lucius was watching Sirius with more of a curious than dangerous expression, though a glint in his eye promised that it could change easily.

"That ghastly thing? I wouldn't go around advertising that, Lucius you are liable to be friendless by the end of the party." Snape was straightening his long, beaked mask, still calm and unshaken.

"Who are you?" Malfoy's silver eyes narrowed on Sirius.

Sirius, still fighting back the urge to vomit all over the tree could not find proper words. Instead he did the most logical thing that came to mind after punching Snape in the face.

He ran.

Not well, mind you, as he was still pressed hip to hip with his childhood nemesis, behind the extravagant tree, large mahogany clock and a bemused looking Malfoy. Between the four objects only one was liable to give under his pushing and that is the one that he aimed himself for.

The tree came toppling down with little warning other than a single ornament shattering on the polished floor before the whole thing fell with a clamoring cascade of noises that were almost drowned out by the startled shrieks and shouts of the guests who were nearly crushed by the arboreal monstrosity. Sirius bolted from the room in the confusion. He was hard pressed to find an unoccupied space to change and had no real time to stop and look around clearly, for he was certain that he could hear Malfoy following him.

With some astounding luck he happened to bumble into an empty hall leading down to where Draco's room was, and where he, Magnus the dog, should have been. Fluidly he changed, letting the heavy mask roll noisily across the carpet as his four velvety feet found the floor and he went careening into Draco's room. He maneuvered beneath the bed and lay as still as he could manage whilst trying to catch his breath. It was only when he could breath past the horrible feeling in his chest that he remembered he had started his evening with the intent of Lucius recognizing the suit and using it as a way to lure him elsewhere. It was a wasted effort now, in the light of the mess he had made with the tree, but there was no way that anyone would have been able to keep their wits about themselves after coming to find out that Snivellus' hands had been caressing the inside of their thigh. He shuddered at the memory.

Someone entered the room, he could see the polished black shoes from his hiding space beneath the bed. They were, sadly not Narcissa's shoes, but unmistakably the master of the house's.

"Leviosa." The word was calm but somehow frightening.

The bed rose up exposing the bristling dog beneath. He was able to look clearly up at Lucius and the slender wand aimed squarely between his eyes. He knew he was caught, he could practically feel the dementor's kiss once more, but then he saw those steely eyes soften and the man smiled. "Come on out, Magnus. I need you to help me find someone."

The two searched the halls and room, Sirius with his nose dutifully pressed to the ground as if he might be able to catch a whiff of the uninvited party guest. Oddly, no one was found and slowly with each passing empty room, Sirius began to relax. The scruff of fur about his neck had finally settled down when he noticed that the two of them had managed to make their way into Lucius' dressing room. He made a fuss, snuffing the corners of the room and then made his way towards the doors, but Lucius was in his way, unmoving and his wand loosely held in one hand. "I want my suit back."

Sirius' hackles rose once more and he had to fight the urge to bare his teeth.

"I can wait, but be aware that I am not a patient man." The wand was idly drummed against his hip as he coolly watched the dog at his feet.

With little less to do if he did not wish to bite open Lucius' jugular, Sirius turned his back on the man and found his human shape. He dared not turn around, not wanting to show his face with the knowledge that it could easily put his back in Azkaban. He slipped from the jacket and hung it with care on its proper hanger. It was unnerving to know that Lucius was watching his every movement with a weapon in hand.

"If you hadn't saved my son's life I would kill you where you stand."

Nodding carefully, he unbuttoned the painfully red shirt and found its hanger too.

"How long did you intend to hide in my house?"

"Just until the wards were lifted."

"The wards?" The room grew painfully silent and Sirius wondered why he had ever been dumb enough to try his plan, dumb enough to get distracted, dumb enough to get cornered with no means of defense. "Turn." He demanded.

Almost daring to hope that if he turned slow enough somehow he would not see Lucius standing there, he faced the door.

"Sirius Black." It was a bitter accusation, but his eyes spoke a different story. He was hungrily taking in every inch of the bare torso with an ever so slightly drunk glint in his eye. "You have been hiding in my house for three months, sleeping beside my son, eating my food… and watching me bathe."

"I-well, yes." It was not much of a defense.

"I should call the aurors and have them take you back where you belong."

"I saved your son." He pointed out quickly.

"And turned a nice traitor during the war."

"What? I never-"

Lucius waved if off, silencing him quickly with a hasty flick of his wand. "That's fine, I only served the Dark Lord because he made me too." But he winked afterwards and Sirius was enraged at what he was being accused of.

He found himself growling at the pale man before him. That anyone could accuse him of setting the Potters up to be executed was insane. They were his best friends. They were- but Lucius was kissing him and the angry thoughts scattered. Kissing Malfoy was infinitely superior to the drunken snog behind the tree not even throwing into account who he was kissing. He somehow found the will to pull back from the petal soft lips. "I _wasn't_ working for your side." He growled out the words against Lucius' mouth.

"My son would be heartbroken if we sent you away now." His cheeks were tinted ever so slightly pink and hands were still down at his sides, as if he could not bring himself to take that final movement away from his long guarded homosexuality. "Regardless of any loyalties you want to tell me that you had or had not," his gaze was making its way slowly down Sirius' lean muscled chest "as long as you continue to behave yourself, every minute of every day, you can stay here. But if anyone-ANYONE else discovers that you are who you are it will come as a complete surprise to me and I will let them take you away without a second glance." His lips grazed Sirius' again for only a fraction of a second before he pointed his wand squarely in the center of Sirius' chest and pushed him away. "Now, I want the rest of my suit back."

Sirius stood numbly, not sure whether to be angry or follow after to recapture those delicate lips. He watched Lucius standing there unflappable with his wand unwavering. He remained quiet for as long as he dared before the wand pressed not unkindly into his ribs. "My suit?"

"It doesn't fit me anyhow." He opted not to risk the theft of another kiss, though he felt it unfair that he had started his day with the intent of debauching the stuffy man and instead found himself stripping down for him on the wrong end of a wand with absolutely no promise of even so much as a fondle. He stood bare and shameless under the apprising scrutiny of the other man before getting only of the briefest nod.

"Draco should be going down for the night and I have a party waiting anxiously for my return." He waved Sirius off with one long fingered hand as he pocketed his wand. "It's past your bed time."

"You're lucky I need a place to stay and don't have a wand." He folded his arms, refusing to be intimidated or embarrassed by the disarming gaze.

Those pale eyes dipped lower for a moment followed by a scathing smile. "Indeed." He walked away, turning his back on the notorious criminal and returning to his party as if nothing had happened in his closet.


	7. in which things start to get worse

Spring came in the unexpected sort of way that the season often did, one day was snow flurries and the next white lilies were blooming along the sides of the house. Sirius had spent many of the long winter nights trying to re-instigate what he personally referred to as the 're-seduction of Malfoy the git'. But the man, as stubborn as could be, guarded his feigned heterosexuality as well as a Gringotts vault. Black was never granted more than the barest press of lips before the sharp end of a wand would find his neck, or ear or other sensitive part of his anatomy. The lackluster passion of their few seconds alone almost made him pine for Snivellus' company once again.

Almost.

He wasn't even allowed to watch Lucius bath anymore. It was a right sour deal and his time in the house became bitter and somewhat maddening. He was grateful when spring set in and he finally got to run around outside with Draco. The child did not actually do much running himself, but would occasionally toss a red rubber ball a foot or so away and let Sirius tackle it. The amount of pent up frustrations that were taken out on that innocent ball was enough that the game only lasted approximately two days before the ball was no more and Sirius took to gnawing on sticks and burying their pulpy remnants behind the gardening shed.

As April approached it was decided that the family would take Draco to Kensington Gardens for a day trip to view the flowers… though it is farer to say that Narcissa decided that Draco would like to see the flowers, Lucius had scoffed at the idea. It was the first real argument that Sirius had seen between the two. They waited until Draco had been put to bed then paced the main hall whispering to each other their disagreements. It was tame and almost funny to Sirius in light of the arguments that used to occur in his childhood home when the pictures on the walls would tremble and doors would come off their hinges. At the end of the hushed argument both went to their room together, but Narcissa still took Draco to Kensington the next morning and Lucius stayed behind.

Most of that morning Black did his best to avoid Malfoy in case his mood was something that should be feared, but around noon a house elf discovered Sirius' resting place behind one of the black velvet couches and dragged him by his collar to the main bedroom.

To say that Sirius was apprehensive would be a gross understatement. He was poised on his toes, ready to bolt the moment he saw any hint of wand, dementor or leash. But all that waited for him was Lucius, reclining in a dressing robe with a long buck cigar caught between his teeth, reading the Daily Prophet. The elf left them and the master of the house did not even bother to look up from his paper. Sirius debated crawling beneath the bed and hoping to be forgotten. As soon as he started to nose at the bed skirt, trying to judge how much hiding room he was working with he heard an overly loud crinkle of paper.

"You received your weekly bath yesterday?"

Sirius peered over the high, plush bed, looking at the disquieting way in which Malfoy was watching him over the top of his newspaper, and gave a curt nod of his big furry head.

Lucius sighed softly and set aside the paper, setting his cigar into a crystal ash tray. "I will not converse with an animal like some sort of madman." He waited expectantly.

Sirius weighed his options and realized with some barely suppressed joy that his chances of a snog, if not a full blow shag, were starting to look up. He leapt onto the bed, changing halfway through so that when he landed he was a long and lean, if not slightly wild haired Sirius. He leaned back on his elbows in what he hoped was an inviting way and smiled a smile that he had not used since his Hogwarts days. "Why yes, yes I did. If you would like to inspect my cleanliness, be my guest." He had grown unused to using his voice and it was gruff and lower then he knew it should be, but not in a way that was at all unpleasant and judging by the palest shadow of coral pink that had crept over Malfoy's high cheek bones that low voice was just right.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he supposed that he expected some juvenile, or even girlish flirting complete with long sultry/shy glances and maybe an awkward giggle or two from Malfoy. What Sirius had not expected was to be pushed back and kissed beyond the ability to breath or even form coherent thoughts. He was out of practice and in his defense it had been over two years since his last intimate contact (not counting Snivellus, never counting Snivellus) but he was struggling to keep up with Lucius' nimble hands and searing kisses. Sirius struggled clumsily with the sash tying Lucius' dressing gown and much to his shame had to have help in exposing the lithe body.

Human bodies themselves are strange things and even though at a young age Sirius had marveled how many hips fit perfectly against his own he was still pleased at how those ivory pale hips slid against his as if they had been made for just such a fervent slow grind as they found themselves in. Just as his hands caught those twisting hips, just as he was ready to lay the passionate Lucius on his back and shag him senseless, the man pulled away. One moment he was there with his long fingers tangled up in Sirius' dark hair the next Lucius was sitting on the foot of the bed breathing unevenly through his slightly bruised lips.

Sirius blinked slowly, trying to understand what had just happened. He sat up and scotched closer, hoping to resume their activities but suddenly that damnable wand was pressed against his nose and he dared not move closer.

"Bloody hell, Lucius." He fought to catch his breath and not strangle the man who seemed to take so much pleasure in torturing poor unloved Sirius.

"I thought that I could just use you for an afternoon and don't get me wrong, I'm not sparing your feelings, but I can't do this." His voice was calm though his shaking body was not.

"You still can. It's been almost three bloody years since anyone's used me. Do it." He urged softly, reaching out for one of those milky soft thighs. The point of the wand swiftly moved to the center of his throat and he was forced back.

"I love my wife." He said simply and stood, retrieving his rob from where it had fallen to the floor and pulled it back on.

"You're a poof, Lucius. You always have been. No one needs to know about us. We'll just be helping each other out.

The wand was back at his throat in an instant. "I'll help you out, Black." His other hand gestured grandly to the other side of the room. "There's the door. Get out."

()

Sirius whined, he growled and made piteous noises as obnoxiously loud as he could. Draco laughed at his funny pet and fed him another every flavor bean. It tasted like grass. Sirius slurped it up and lay on his back, continuing the pathetic whining while the child dropped another bean down his throat. He choked a little and rolled over, coughing, chewing and resumed his noises. It wasn't so much that he felt as if his world was ending at the lack of any sex at all, but he felt a need to continue the noises as long as Narcissa and Lucius were still in the hall.

The wonderfully loyal husband had taken his wife up in an amorous sort of cuddle the moment she came through the floo. They had not had the peace of mind to make it much further than the door and Sirius felt that their young, impressionable child should not have to be subject to such things at such a fragile age… especially when Sirius couldn't either. So he made as much of a racket as the other adults and hoped that it slightly spoiled their mood.

Draco eventually curled up against Black's side, one hand holding the small bag of what remained of their beans, the other hand somehow managed to grasp both a sprig of marigolds and Sirius' left ear. The flowers smelled strange and they made Sirius fight back watering eyes and fits of sneezing, but he had other thoughts occupying his mind and no time to wake the sleeping child. The house was finally quiet, though he supposed that meant that the Malfoy's had somehow made it to their room on the other end of the house.

He needed a new plan as it had finally started to sink into his head that Lucius would never be as able and ready as Sirius wanted him to be. His options, as he saw them were to wait for the tailors to return, Macnair to visit (as he did once a month or so) or hope that Sniv- or wait for Draco to grow up. A small part of him wished that sex was not such a high priority to him in his current state, but because the wards still remained over the house, he had no chance of leaving. It sort of limited his activities and options in life. He supposed that he could always-

But there was shouting on the other end of the house and his thoughts were cut short. It was Narcissa's voice, but she was too far away and too angry for Sirius to understand the words. He had no idea what had gone wrong during their little tryst, but he allowed himself a soft chuckle at the mishap, whatever it was. She was coming down the hall, still shouting at her husband and Sirius was able to catch the tail end of her tirade.

"-even ask me to do something like that! What's wrong with you, Lucius?" She did not wait for an answer and simply barged into the room, scooped up her sleeping son and stormed out a different door. Lucius did not trail behind her and after a few minutes Sirius found himself almost worried. He stood, stretching all four of his long legs before padding from the room and towards the stairs. He hadn't far to go. Lucius stood at the top landing, no doubt in the same place he had been since his wife started yelling, looking down the hall with a distant and profound look in his pale eyes.

Narcissa was still stomping about somewhere in the house, so she had not fully left her husband, but it was apparent that he was in deep trouble. Sirius felt bad, almost guilty, having the inclination that perhaps he was somehow, in part, to blame for the fight. He butted his head gently against the man's side and sat next to his feet, letting his ears be tugged on and the distinct lack of words from Lucius settle in around them.


	8. in which we see the return of Pansy

That night found the two men sitting alone in Lucius' study, Black laying over his feet while the man stared blankly at his fireplace. Sirius wanted to tell him that even though he had completely bullocked everything, he could still apologize, should still apologize. But Lucius had not spoken a word and it was dubious as how he would take a suggestion that he should say 'sorry' to anyone, even his wife.

On the verge of calling it quits for the night and finding his comfy place beside Draco, Sirius stood, yawning and shaking his head. He spared a last look at Lucius as if to say 'you're on your own, mate' before turning to pad from the room. The door swung open just as he reached it and he looked up, expecting to see Narcissa all smiles and lovey like she normally was to her husband. Instead, there before him stood Lucius, shifting from one bare foot to the other, grasping his dressing gown closed and with an incredibly uncharacteristically shy smile on his thin lips.

Sirius felt his maw hanging open as he looked up at the man, then back over his shoulder to the other Lucius still sitting on his chair, an expression similar to Sirius' plastered over his face. Standing dumbly and hurting his neck by looking rapidly between the two identical Malfoys, Sirius wondered if he was somehow drunk.

"I-I-" The sitting Lucius stammered softly.

"Have you always been this tall, dear?" The Lucius in the door way asked with a soft smile.

"Naturally." Now the sitting Lucius was smiling in return and holding out a hand to his other self.

The mostly undressed Lucius let himself into the room, gently shooed Sirius out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

Sirius stood blankly in the hall, staring at the closed door as if it knew what was going on and somehow could give him the answers. No answers came, only soft man giggles from the other room.

'That's it, I've finally lost it.' Sirius walked wide eyed back to Draco's room. 'I've gone completely mad,' but he had always known he was never too far from insanity and so he did not feel as upset as he knew that he should when he hoped gently onto Draco's bed and curled around the sleeping child.

When morning came, Sirius was still fairly sure of his insanity, but tried to ignore it. Lucius left after breakfast for a meeting of some sort, kissing his wife long and slow before taking the floo. Sirius watched the exchange and the way that Narcissa hid a small smile after her husband's parting before taking Draco to his room to change his clothes and get him ready for a play date.

Pansy and her unpleasant mother arrived half an hour later and Sirius was torn between keeping an eye on the children and making sure that Pansy didn't take a bite out of Draco, and sitting with the ladies while they caught up on all of the latest gossip.

In light of the fact that both ladies were already tittering, Sirius knew that the day's gossip must be lush and so it was decided for him where he would sit.

Persephone was clapping her hands soundlessly and almost bouncing on the sofa like a child. "You're blushing, Narcissa. Blushing."

"Glowing." She corrected through a modest smile.

"Did you take my advice about that smidgen of love potion?" She was grinning wickedly.

"I didn't need to." Narcissa feigned adjusting her sleeves as if they needed any straightening. "I just learned that I needed to be a bit more… adventurous." Her cheeks were turning quickly to a dark shade of red and both women could not contain their giggling mirth.

Sirius was quickly realizing it was not the sort of gossip he wanted to know about and left the room to go keep an eye on the children. He had to make a notable effort to avoid Pansy's sharp nails, but a house elf was nearby and did its best to keep the girl from hurting anyone or thing. Then there was someone come in the floo and the elf left them alone. To save Draco, Sirius sacrificed himself and let the horrid little girl repeatedly hit him over the head with a block. It only really hurt his pride, but that was enough. When she tried to shove the block in his ear he had enough and finally snapped at her. His teeth never even came close to touching her, but suddenly the girl was screaming and sobbing as if he had bitten her arm off.

Mothers, the house elf and, surprisingly, Severus came into the room.

"He bit me. He bit me. Bad doggie." Pansy clubbed him once more with the block before falling into a sobbing pile in her mother's arms.

"Magnus!" Narcissa seemed shocked and as Sirius attempted to get away from Persephone before she could avenge her daughter, he backed up over Draco.

Then there were two sobbing children and Sirius kept backing up until he felt the firmness of a corner at his back. Both children were coddled and even though neither were hurt, Sirius knew that he was in unspeakable amounts of trouble.

"Severus, I'm glad you're here-" Narcissa was bouncing her upset child on a hip and trying her best to comfort him.

"I was just dropping off something for Lucius." The slender man seemed at a loss with the whole situation, holding a flask in one hand loosely and hesitating in the door way as if not sure he should even be in the room. "Just some more of a potion he had asked for." He shook the silver flask ever so slightly as if showing proof."

For a moment her earlier blush returned before she hurriedly continued. "That, yes, just leave it on the table, please. And can you take Magnus out back for me?"

Snape seem to have completely regained his quiet calm and frowned at the suggestion, but the house elf (whose job it should be to put the dog out) had left to get some sweets for the children, leaving Snape the only person without an arm full of screaming child. "Of course." He walked closer to Sirius, reaching out for his collar but drew back when greeted by an unfriendly growl.

"I don't know what's gotten into him, Magnus has such a sweet disposition."

"Growing up I had a dog who was quite a rascal, but there was an easy fix for that." Snape did not talk to the ladies, no, he was looking directly at Sirius with those dark eyes seeming to burrow directly into his very soul with the unspoken threat. Sirius felt himself bristling and the growl returned when he caught Snape's hand making a quick snipping motion.

"I will bring it up to Lucius, but I'm sure he's just tired of being coped up all day." Narcissa seemed almost as loath to neuter their pet as Sirius was.

Snape shrugged and pulled out his wand. "You do what you feel is necessary." A sudden stupefy and a levicorpus and Sirius was dangled sadly all the way out back and dropped unceremoniously in the grass. "If that had been my child I would have killed you." He threatened as he straightened his long black robes before stalking away, leaving Sirius stunned and stuck in place until Lucius came home that night.

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a/n: two updates in two days? Yeah, don't get used to it. They were once two parts of one long chapter, but I didn't feel right posting a chapter over 3ooo words.


	9. in which Lucius gets angry

"I didn't bite her, I swear." Sirius repeated himself, beginning to feel like a broken record.

"She told her mother that you did." Lucius said calmly, as if not bothered in the slightest by the way that Black paced the room, marking divots in the plush carpet as he turned around for the umpteenth time.

"I didn't bite her!" He was acutely aware of the fact that he still had no wand and that Malfoy obviously did, even if it was only held loosely and in a non threatening way for once.

"Keep your voice down." His pale eyes flashed for a moment before returning to look out a window and to the cool spring night beyond.

Sirius remembered with great clarity Luscious' Christmas threat. He would be kicked out, turned over to the Ministry and shipped back to Azkaban. "I didn't." He said, his tone grievous and final as he let himself melt into one of the high-backed chairs of the den. He would not beg, and attacking Malfoy could only be used as an absolute last resort, so he would sit and wait for his judgment.

"So," the pale man finally spoke after their shared silence had grown almost palpable, "Azkaban or a meat packing facility?"

"Just take the wards down, you won't see me again… you can just tell Draco I ran away." He tried what he felt to be the most reasonable of compromises and given his current circumstance he was rather proud of his diplomacy.

Lucius turned to face the other man. "Are you suggesting that I am the sort of man who would lie to my son?"

Sirius had no want to be intimidated. He was from the most noble house of Black, and despite the fact that Lucius was taller and armed, Sirius had faced far more frightening foes in his life. "You bloody well know I wasn't. I didn't lay fang or claw on that monster they call Pansy, so either get over it or take down the wards because if you call the Ministry on me then the men who come to take me away will find a choice few bits of hidden dark magic paraphernalia hidden in your lovely home."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Damn right I am, you smooth git." Sirius did not budge from his chair, not even when Malfoy came closer. He was tired and his joints were still stiff from lying petrified out on the back lawn for most of the day. If Lucius really wanted to berate him for not biting a child that morning, he could. Sirius was done defending himself and was just starting to get angry.

The two men stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before Lucius raised his wand from where it had hung loosely at his side. Sirius would have considered being afraid, or impressed at how brave the other man was pretending to be, but they could both see the slightest waver in the tip of the wand and they both knew that Lucius had no intention of using it unless he had to. Sirius stood, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin so that they were eye to eye.

"Put that twig away, take down the wards, take the potion Snape left for you and go back to your wife, Malfoy. Tell her you got rid of the scary monster dog and that your son is safe." Sirius whispered, there was no need to speak any louder than a hush, the words were for their ears theirs alone.

It was the wrong thing to say, threatening a Malfoy, telling him what to do as if Sirius had any good way to make the man do as he wished. Whereas Lucius had seemed almost reluctant to have his wand pointed at Sirius moments before, his eyes grew hard and the slender tip of elm dug painfully into Black's throat. Lucius opened his mouth, temper lost and a curse readily on thin lips.

Sirius did not wait for those words to fall, instead he grabbed the pale man by the shoulders and cracked their heads together. It was as painful at is was loud, but it worked. Lucius dropped his wand to cradle his face. Sirius ignored his own throbbing skull and quickly grabbed the troublesome bit of magically endowed wood from the carpet.

"You filthy mongrel." Lucius hissed out from between clenched teeth.

"I want out just as much as you don't want me here." Sirius resisted rubbing his forehead trying to maintain a sense of control; he was after all, the one now armed.

Lucius looked up, a fine trickle of blood running from his nose and a dark bruise already starting beneath his eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, something bitter and stinging, but a hand came up to touch the blood and when he saw it he somehow became paler. "I'm bleeding." He staggered, all decorum lost as he swooned.

"Are you serious?" Black rolled his eyes, the moment of anger had passed. He could not hold onto the hot emotion while the other man was slumped in his thousand galleon suit, shaking from the mere sight of his own blood. "You're such a poof, Malfoy."

Sirius returned to his chair, still clutching the wand.

After the moment had passed, Lucius managed to retrieve a silken handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed gingerly at his injured face, all the while his eyes were closed tightly against the possibility of another sighting of the dark crimson blood.

"Merlin's beard, it's not even bleeding anymore, you wanker. Now are you going to take down that ward or do I have to nut you again?" Sirius scratched his temple with the pilfered wand, glancing at the great clock against the wall. It was getting late and Narcissa would be by soon to see why her husband had yet to come to bed.

Lucius stood, straightening himself and still lightly toughing his stained handkerchief to his face. He was no longer pale and shaking, nor had he returned to his earlier anger. His face was a blank mask, eyes unreadable and cold. He held out a hand, slender and perfect despite a few flecks of red. "I will need my wand first."

Black weighed his options, knowing it was the only way that Lucius could cast the needed spell, then, against his better judgment, he handed the wand back to its owner.

Sirius woke outside, muscles throbbing and head still ringing. He could not remember what Lucius had done to him, but he had no doubts that it was deserved. He was far from Malfoy manor and could not recognize the stars or the smell of the trees. Pine boughs brushed his face as he clamored to his feet, sending stray flakes of snow to the ground. Naked in the cold misty light of predawn, he shifted to his animagus form, letting his natural fur provide the smallest bit of warmth against the early spring chill.

He was free. It was what he had asked for and frankly he was shocked that Lucius had not left him on the doorstep of the Ministry. It was more kindness than he had expected. So with the smallest of comfort that their sordid friendship had remained intact he trotted through the forest hoping to get his barring and to seek out a new hiding place.

In no time he came to realize that what he had thought to be a forest was actually a large park in London and the paved roads encircling it were already a buzz with early morning muggles commuting to their jobs. He padded along the sidewalks until he came to the park's entrance, looking up at the name and tripping over his feet as he did.

Regent's Park.

He was only a few miles west of Islington.

He was only a few miles from Grimmauld Place.

He retracted any feeling of kindness towards Malfoy. The git had left him close to his childhood home. Not on the doorstep, but he may as well have. Sirius was an escapee of Azkaban, he was a wanted wizard and if there was anywhere that the Ministry would be looking for him it would be here. He turned and ran on his long dog legs, hoping to put as much space between himself and certain doom as possible without being captured by any muggle dog catchers or hit by any of the speeding cars. He made it all the way to King's Cross by lunch time. Tired and panting heavily he realized that there was no way that the conductors would let a large dog onto the train. He found a place to rest, out of the flow of people and the slushy snow that still clung stubbornly to the dirty ground, and lay down, resting his heavy head on his paws

He missed his thick breakfast steaks, and Draco's soft bed.

He missed Draco and the way that the little boy would take his afternoon naps on Sirius, holing his ears and drooling on his neck.

There was no way that he would apologize to Lucius, or beg to be let back into their home. He wasn't crazy, just proud and he knew that laying about in London would not be safe. He had no friends left, everyone thought he was a Potter killing traitor and even if he had a way of finding his godson, there was little chance that whoever was taking care Harry would welcome in a stray dog. He didn't know where Remus had gone once the war was done, and the man's heavy sense of morality would probably get in the way of letting Sirius explain that he had not actually killed their childhood mate and his wife.

He was out of familiar options and all that was left was to risk the unknown or go back to prison.

A train was approaching platform seven. It stopped with a low screech of metal on metal as the breaks worked hard on the rails. Muggles flowed out as new ones pressed their way in. It was lunch hour and the conductors were scattered few and far between, ushering the flow of traffic in hopes of keeping the trains on schedule. Sirius saw his chance, an unmanned door near the middle of the train. He slid like a shadow amongst the commuters and settled himself near the back of a luggage rack.

He had no idea where the train was headed, but wherever that mysterious destination may be, he would follow it and with any luck it would end somewhere safe.

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An: this is oddly not the end, but the return of this story... I've got a few chapters left in me.


	10. In which there is a smiling Snape

The train left King's Cross and followed the gleaming railways out through London and into the country. Sirius remained unnoticed and undisturbed tucked beneath the luggage rack between a paisley suitcase and a child's backpack that smelled of crayons and peanut butter. It was nearly fifty miles outside of the city when the pigtailed child came to claim her pack, and squealed with joy to see a doggie secreted away.

Very soon afterwards the conductor cautiously removed him from the train, leaving him standing on a platform out in the countryside amongst willowy birch trees and sweeping pains of grass that swayed above his head.

He decided against waiting on the platform, there were no crowds of people he could sneak through to board another train. He sat, peering out at the country side and what remained of a rundown industrial town, smelling the air as quickly as he could with deep rumbling breaths.

Someone was cooking goose.

He was off the platform, wagging happily and following his growling stomach down a narrow cobbled road until he came upon a string of homes. They were all low brick dwellings, nothing of note from one to another except the faint smell of poultry that wafted to him as he padded contently down each driveway searching for the source.

He turned down a small side street called Spinners End that jutted up against an old field housing a crumbling mill along a lazy river and a lone house. A small, well tended herb garden stood between himself and the open side door and he could only assume it had been left open so as to welcome in hungry stray dogs. He trod carefully through the neat rows of grasses and roots, wanting to make a good impression and not upset the foliage and then sat firmly on the stoop and waited to be noticed. He could see into the humble kitchen and noted that the place had an air of neglect, as though it was not usually inhabited. Bookshelves lined the walls, piled high in old tomes bound in black or brown leather and sat in tidy stacks on the table and counters, they even were strewn over the stove top, most gingerly decorated in a thin layer of dust.

Sirius noted these only somewhere in the back of his mind, because the brunt of his concentration was on the stone hearth in which was turning a scrawny goose, just waiting for him. His tail was pounding loudly against the ground when the home's owner came to check on their dinner and it was only when Sirius saw the spidery thin man that he fully realized that the meal had been turning and basting itself.

This was not a muggle home.

And it was no muggle that turned to eye him suspiciously where he sat.

Nor was it even a strange, but kind looking wizard.

Sirius would have run, tearing through the small garden, but his long limbs were frozen in shock, his bushy tail quivering in midair.

Snape came closer, a hand already on his wand as he looked at his uninvited guest. He sneered when he realized that he knew the black beast watching him, wrinkling his hooked nose. "How the devil did Malfoy's dog get here?" He spoke to himself as he reached to close the door. "If he thinks I'm taking care of you for him, he …" Snape's black eyes peered down unfeeling at Sirius, "well, are you coming in or not, you smelly thing?"

Wearily Sirius crossed the threshold, not knowing why other than perhaps his stomach was thinking for him in that moment and food was more important than who might be the one to feed him.

Snape continued to mumble to himself as he moved about the kitchen, combining two stacks of books to free up a corner of the table where he set a plate for himself alongside a chipped goblet.

It was a small feast that the man set out for himself without any help from a house elf or a second glance at the black dog who sat beside his fireplace. It was only when Severus toasted himself with cheep beer that had been poured into the old crystal glass that Sirius even began to realize that perhaps it was a meal of note. The man was celebrating, so much so that he tossed a bit of goose to Sirius and smiled openly when the dog caught it mid air.

"I don't know why you're here, you big mutt, but you may as well celebrate with me." Some beer was poured into a bowl and more meat plus a small helping of canned beans and mash were shoveled onto a plate and placed on the floor.

At first Sirius was cautious of the food, but again his stomach won and he wolfed down the meal as if he hadn't eaten in days. He did not know what it was that they were celebrating, but for the time being he was just glad to have a full belly and be in out of the chill evening air. The goose was gamier than it looked and he had the suspicion that it had once been a wild bird that met an untimely end around the time Snape decided he wanted it for his feast. After the second helping of cold beans, Sirius was done and he lowered himself down before the fire and just tried to relax and pretend that he wasn't in Snivilous' home.

He did not realize that he had even fallen asleep until bright morning light touched his nose. He sat up, yawning deeply and looked around the almost empty kitchen.

Snape's greasy figure was huddled over a bowl of porridge. Somehow knowing that Sirius had stirred, Snape raised his dark eyes and smiled softly. "I'm going back to Hogwarts today, but Malfoy should be by to fetch you… or one of his servants will." He set the mostly empty bowl on the floor for Sirius and stood.

If the candid smiles weren't enough to turn him off the thought of food, the prospect of actually eating out of Snape's own bowl was. He lay back down on the hearth, even though the fire was out and the heat had long since left.

Though he had left the room, the oily man returned and looked at Sirius one last time. "You're not hungry?" He knelt down beside the dog and gently tousled his long ears. "You miss your Draco, don't you?"

Sirius looked up at the man in dismay. Did he really expect an answer?

"I was going to put you outside to wait, but it's raining." He reached back and retrieved the bowl of cold mush and placed it closer to Sirius. "I sent another note to Malfoy that you're going to be inside and you will be back with your boy by tonight." He stood, smoothing his long fingered hands over his slightly wrinkled robes. "And if you break anything in my house, I will skin you when I get back from school."

Snape apparated away and Sirius barked with joy, hardly able to believe his luck. Lucius would not come for him, and the man had enough need for Snape that he would not anger him by calling the Ministry down to his house. Sirius was alone in a book crammed shack, but he was alone, and would be until Snape returned at the end of term in the summer. It only gave him a few months to relax, but he planned to make the most of it.

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an: a new chapter? so soon? I have no idea what I'm doing right now, other than not homework. It's a good life.

And if I can find a way? moar kissing next chapter. This story doesn't have enough kissing.


	11. in which Snape comes home

The beautiful two months that followed Snape's departure could only be described as a 'jolly olde time'. Sirius had a house to himself and if it weren't for the towers of books, the rundown home reminded him of his childhood, but in a pleasant sort of way. He found an old telle in a bedroom that looked as if it had not seen a living soul in a decade. After that discovery his time was spent either sprawled naked on a musty bed, watching static images on the glorious twelve inch screen or as a dog, frolicking around the old industrial town. The nakedness was a direct result of no willingness to wear Snape's clothes and the frolicking was because he had found a butcher's shop owned by a kind a plump man who seemed to take a personal interest in making sure that Sirius remained well fed.

It hardly took more than a week before some of Snape's last words really started to stick in his mind.

Sirius did miss his 'boy'.

Draco had been such a happy addition to his life that he had come to think of himself as a sort of father to the boy. A dog-father. In his mind, it was like a godfather, only much harrier. He couldn't aparate himself back to the Malfoy's, not even for a short visit in the middle of the night, not while he was still wandless. So he pushed the boy from his mind and focused on eating well and catching up on his daytime dramas.

As June came to Spinner's End, he found that the telle held less interest and the books a bit more. Though he had never been a reader in school, normally avoiding books and any kind of study in favor of quidditch or chasing girls, it was hard to ignore the truly staggering amount of books that Snape had managed to fit into a single house. He sought out any books that looked like they might have naughty pictures, and as he quickly exhausted the short supply of anatomy books he was forced to move onto other reading material. He found he liked the history books that were about war. Most were dry recounts, but occasionally he pulled out one of the dusty tomes and was rewarded with a more fanciful retelling of some great wizard destroying ogres and dragons and helping to conquer and divide nations.

He found himself in the midst of a sweltering June afternoon, with the temperature outside reaching almost eighty-three degrees, sprawled out with a carton of ice cream, halfway through a book about Merlin. The crusty old wizard was telling off some muggle king and Sirius took for himself another hearty spoonful of chocolate ice cream before turning the page to find out if Merlin hexed the king, when Snape came home.

One moment he was enjoying his lunch then next Snape was beside the bed, with a battered trunk of luggage, looking alternately tired, confused and then furious.

Sirius froze with the large kitchen spoon halfway in his mouth and looked at the other man with wide, startled eyes. He had known that Snape would return home, inevitably, but part of him had always assumed that he would be given some sort of warning before hand.

Their stunned silence stretched out as they both remained motionless, staring at each other in disbelief.

Snape was the first to move, one long, spiderlike hand going for his wand.

But Sirius was much less shocked by their meeting and much closer to the bedroom door. He flailed wildly, flinging the carton of ice cream at Snape and making a mad dash out of the room. He stumbled down the hall and threw himself out the backdoor. He managed to shift into his animal form a mere two seconds before Snape once more appeared beside him.

The greasy man looked at the black dog beside him, then out at his garden and the trees surrounding the house.

Sirius made a show of running around, barking loudly and sniffing at the ground as though something very important had recently been out there with him. But when once of Snape's hands caught his collar he feared the worst.

"Have you been here the whole time?" The anger that showed on his face did not touch his voice and his hands were almost kind where they scratched at his neck.

Sirius barked loudly, as if to say, 'why of course I have been. And by the way, where did that mysterious naked man get off to?' Then, as an afterthought he joyously (as much as he could pretend joy at least) began licking at the smears of chocolate ice cream that clung to Snape in sticky rivulets. It was the most logical dog-like behavior that he could come up with, and in all actuality it seemed a waste to let his last carton of ice cream go to ruin.

Snape nodded slowly as if he understood wild barking and gently lead Sirius back inside, rubbing his head and locking the door behind them. If the moist licking of his arms bothered him he did not show it.

"How did he get in here? You are possibly the worst guard dog even, no wonder Malfoy never came back for you." He made his way to the sink and washed his arms and looked in dismay at his chocolaty robes. Without any warning to Sirius (as seemed to be Snape's main plan for his first day back) the man unfastened his robe and shuffled out of the room. In only a simple black button down shirt and black pants, the man lost any bulk or intimidating presence. Snape had always been skinny, but Black had never seen him without the protection of his billowing robes. It was almost pitiful.

He left Snape to go find what remained of his ice cream and buried his face in the carton. After a few minute had passed he had the sad realization that his head was stuck. He whimpered and stumbled around until Snape came to his rescue, pulling the container off of the dog's head and smiling in amusement. "Worst dog ever."

.

.

.

That night, after both man and dog had been bathed (although separately) Sirius lay on his belly panting in the heat of the kitchen while Snape slaved over a cauldron in the hearth. It was beyond Sirius' understanding how Snape could possibly teach potions for so many month then come home to more mixing and brewing almost immediately, but the man had always been strange.

Around midnight the potion was done, and it was carefully poured, stinking and thick, into a small vile, then corked. Snape seemed almost impatient afterwards, not heading to bed, but watching the clock while he cleaned up after himself.

Sirius was dying to know what the potion was and who they were waiting for, but he dared not ask.

At two in the morning, Sirius was roused from his deep sleeping by a soft tapping at the back door. Snape got up from the table and a book that he had been reading with well focused intent, and went to the door.

"Yes?" Snape raised one eyebrow, looking as if he already knew exactly who stood outside in the dark but wanted to take some pleasure in keeping them waiting.

"I'm sorry I'm late. Can I come in?"

Sirius recognized the voce. He knew it was well as he knew his own.

He ran from the room as quietly as possible and hid himself in the back of the almost empty pantry.

Snape let Lupin into his kitchen, and though Sirius could not see them from his hiding place he could smell them and his heat ached for his old friend.

"You're late." Snape drawled

"I know."Remus sighed. "I already apologized once, Snape."

"I suppose you are here for your wolfsbane?"

Remus sighed again and then came the sound of a chair scraping across the tile floor as the two sat down. "I-" But Remus stopped talking and all Sirius could hear was the two men breathing softly. "I don't mean to alarm you… Severus… but-"

"But what Remus?" Snape did not sound curious, he sounded annoyed.

Sirius' ears twitched. He did not know when the two had started calling each other by their first names, but he did not like it.

"I can smell Sirius Black."

"Yes. When I came home from school today I found him naked on my bed, eating ice cream and reading children's' books."

"I would say that you're joking, but I don't think you can."

"He ran away like the coward that he is and I don't expect to see him again. Now do you want your potion or not?"

"I," Remus sighed deeply again, "Yes. Thank you."

It grew very quiet in the kitchen and Sirius longed to know if Remus had just aparated away or if the two were just staring at each other in a creepy fashion. He wished that he didn't have to hide in a pantry, but Snape was right, he was a coward. Remus still though that he had killed the Lily and James and until Sirius found wherever Peter had run off to, there would be no way to prove his innocence.

"Are you sure he's gone again?"

"It must have been sheer luck that that imbecile found my home in the first place. I doubt he even knew it was mine. Your old friend was never the brightest child."

"And you didn't kill him? I mean, I'm glad I guess. He was my friend… but I just assumed that if you were the one to find him…" Remus let the thought trail off, he did not need to reiterate the feelings between Snape and Black.

"I would have killed him? No, if he hadn't vanished I would have cursed him, and then sent him back to Azkaban."

"That's… uncharacteristically kind of you." Remus was almost chuckling and it hurt Sirius even more to hear such ease in the man's voice.

"Killing him would only be satisfying for the hour or two that it would take for him to die, but seeing an innocent man in prison is worth a lifetime of joy for me." Snape did not sound like joy was anywhere close to what he was experiencing.

"Innocent?" Remus was whispering as if trying to keep his surprise from the neighbors or anyone else who could possibly be listening.

"Your potion?" Snape moved, the sound of his old shoes moving over the kitchen floor were overly loud.

"Severus?"

"I've had a long day Now good night, Remus Lupin. ."

"Of course." Remus stood then too, Sirius recognized the man's gait, his slow quiet shuffle over the floor. "Thank you."

The back door opened, but Remus did not leave. The two men stood in near silence and only the sound of their breathing reached Sirius' ears to let him know that they were both still there. After what felt like an eternity had passed, Snape quietly cleared his throat and bit a soft goodnight.

Sirius waited in the pantry until he heard Snape move by himself to the dismal little living room, before he squeezed past the door and joined him.

The man was laying back on his short couch, looking like he was settling in for the night. Sirius wearily lowered himself to the threadbare carpet and tried to puzzle over what Snape had said. He had called Sirius innocent.

Innocent would have been good coming from anyone else, but from his childhood nemesis, it just sounded suspicious. He raised up his doggy head to look at Snape, where he lay quietly, his eyes already closed in sleep. Sirius huffed and settled back down. He would worry about it later. It had been a long day and the fact that he had remained after Snape's return confused him and only promised that the days to come would be equally long and perhaps even more confusing.

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an: what am I doing and what's going on here? I have no bloody clue. But next chapter will have a time lapse somewhere and the following chapter, more Draco... because I miss the little jerk.


	12. in which a plot is almost back on track

Snape spent the better part of his summer vacation hovering over either a bubbling cauldron or a musty spell book. At first Sirius didn't understand what all the potions were for, but as owls arrived with small bags of sickles and left with little phials of carefully labeled potions, the dog understood. Snape was working a summer job from his kitchen.

The house smelled of herbs and Sirius started out hating the strange earthen scents that seemed so reminiscent of his school days. But after a while, the late night walks with Severus to collect strange moon blossoms or such and the good belly rubs, the odd smells became something good and familiar.

He loved their midnight walks, when the heat of the day had drifted away leaving only clear night skies and chirping crickets. Sirius would chase wild foxes or stray cats while Snape gathered his specialty ingredients. They would eat sandwiches by the river, Snape having a blatant disregard for what dogs should and should not eat, and Sirius relishing in proper food. Not that Potions master was much of a cook, but Sirius had a great love of eating and would not complain.

Despite their years of rivalry and fighting, after the war had ended, neither man was the same as they had been back in school. Although Sirius was the sort of person to hold grudges and possibly never grow up until it became absolutely necessary, the man he found himself living with was so different from the boy he bullied back at Hogwarts, it was almost too easy to pretend that they actually were two separate people.

He didn't go for walks with _Snivilous_, or catch rabbits for Snivilous. He didn't sleep with his head on Snivilous' knee. He did those things with a man named Snape who didn't wear shoes in his garden and had one of the stupidest laughs when he thought that no one could hear him.

Sirius would never admit it out loud, but he had made up his mind that he liked the big nosed man who had a love of dogs and a bit of a drinking problem. Though part of him was highly suspect that it was just his kinder, sweeter canine temperate making those sorts of proclamations for him.

He liked Snape, that is until Remus returned to Spinner's End.

It wasn't even on a proper full moon.

Sirius had been keeping an eye on the calendar; there were still two weeks before his old mate should have come around for another draught of wolfsbane. The man didn't even have the decency to come at night. No. Remus came knocking at the back door one Thursday afternoon just after Snape and Sirius had stumbled out of bed and started eating their breakfast of porridge, apples and bitter coffee.

Snape rose from the table dressed in his wrinkled dress pants from the night before and nothing else. He was thin and pale and sleep addled, just how Sirius liked him in the mornings, and in no shape to be greeting company. But the man still had some traditional British decency and mumbled "accio robe," softly, pulling the garment into place and shaking some of his filthy hair from his tired eyes before touching the door handle. "What do you want?"

"It's Remus." The old werewolf answered in a damnably cheery way, then when no response came from within he cleared his throat. "I brought you a case of lager." He offered almost sheepishly.

Snape might have just opened the door at the offer of beer, but the sound of Sirius slamming into the table in his effort to escape the small kitchen stopped him.

Sirius hid in the living room, hoping that the towers of books would shield him from the werewolf and he silently willed Snape to tell the other man to get lost. Sadly, Sirius did not then discover any hidden psychic abilities and Remus was allowed in the house.

They exchanged pleasantries, or at least what passed for pleasantness from Snape and over cheeriness from Remus, before lapsing into a comfortable silence punctuated by the opening of two beers.

"I'm busy today, so if you're here hoping for a quick shag you will be leaving quite disappointed." Snape's voice was calm and held no tone of irony.

Sirius peered around his fortress of books with eyes so wide he feared they might fall from his skull. Never had he thought those sorts of words were possible from Snape. Certainly Black had never wanted to hear something like that. It was a disgusting suggestion that, by the sounds of Remus' soft chuckle, was not all together unwelcome.

"Severus, I hope you don't talk like that at school." The man was still laughing softly.

"I don't, nor do I drink like this, but that's frankly beside the point. You still have two weeks until the moon, Remus. Why are you here?"

"You don't have much time to clean up around here, do you?"

Snape sighed and Sirius hoped that it was out of annoyance and that the man would remove Lupin soon. It was not and he did not. "So you are here to criticize my housekeeping skills then?" His tone was mildly amused and Sirius cursed his luck that somehow the Potions Master found the werewolf amusing.

"I can still smell Black." The laughter had faded too quickly.

"As far as I can tell he lived here for nearly three months and I haven't had time to work the stink of him from my walls as of yet. So unless you are volunteering to clean, I recommend letting the subject of that madman drop."

"Last time you… you called him innocent." Remus' words were timid and quickly followed by a noisy sip of beer.

"And that's why you are here." Snape didn't ask, just stated the harsh fact.

"That's why I'm here."

The room grew silent for what felt like a painfully long time. Long enough that Sirius quietly retreated further into the catacombs of books, hoping much more deeply that Snape would just kick Remus out, but another part of him hoping that the man would explain further. Sirius knew he didn't kill the Potters, but Snape was the last person in the world he thought would believe such a story.

"It was Peter." Snape said at last after a slow drink. "As much as I wish it was Sirius, it wasn't."

"Peter?" Lupin almost shouted in disbelief. "It couldn't have been Peter. He could never- he-"

"He worked both sides, just like I did. The boy was a timid fool and easily swayed by the promise of power. Black never would have been smart enough to be a spy. On top of that the great oaf actually killed the only proof he was innocent. Peter is gone and I will only be more than happy to see your old chum back in Azkaban."

"But you… you just said he didn't do it." Remus was whispering then, his shaking voice hardly reaching back to Sirius' hiding place.

"The man is a bastard, Remus. The fact that he didn't help to kill your precious James means nothing to me. When he is finally caught I will be the first one cracking open a celebratory drink."

"Oh, Severus. You really are a stubborn ass." Remus' voice had taken on a trembling sort of joy and relief that made Sirius' heart swell. "If you weren't such a smarmy git I would kiss you."

Sirius' happiness faded with such a proclamation and the dead silence in the other room was almost enough to lure him out of hiding just so he could see the look on Snape's face.

When Snape finally spoke his words were soft and breathy in a way that brought a new concern to Sirius that he had not ever considered.

"I'm still very busy today."

"I'm staying the night." Remus said in a confident, matter of fact way.

When Snape didn't argue and the only sounds from the kitchen were those of silence, Sirius finally found the courage to creep his way down the hall and peer around the door frame.

The long pauses between the two men suddenly made sense as did the awkward silent moments on Remus' last visits. They were not speaking because their mouths were too busy with other activities.

Sirius slunk away in disgust.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy for his mate finding someone at long last. But Remus had never mentioned that he fancied blokes while they were in school together, even with Sirius' constant pestering. Remus could have done much better for himself than a man like Snape.

Snape.

The man had no right to be snogging Remus.

Remus had no business wrapping his arms around someone like Snape.

Sirius made it all the way to the cellar before realizing he did not know who he was angry at.

.

.

.

Remus only visited once more before Snape returned to school and the old werewolf did not stay the night that time, though he did linger in the door way for far longer than Sirius approved of. Each time Snape left the house during that short summer, Sirius had his growing suspicious of where the man was going.

He didn't like to think about the two together. Instead he chased cats, or swam around in the lazy river behind the house.

When the day came that Snape was packing his bags to return to Hogwarts, Sirius was there with him, laying on the foot of the bed watching the progress with anticipation. The house would soon be his again and he could maybe shave and go into town, seek out some well needed human contact. He had been far far too long as someone's pet.

Once his bags were full, Snape sat down beside Sirius, scratching his long, shaggy ears. "I had sent word to Malfoy, at the beginning of the summer that you were still here." The man spoke in a soft, affectionate tone as his hands found just the right spot on doggy belly. "He said he didn't want you anymore, that you aren't good for Draco." He smiled one of his open, gentle smiles that only Sirius ever saw. "I can't afford a dog sitter while I'm away at school."

Sirius rolled onto his back, exposing the maximum belly surface area for scratching. He wanted to assure Snape that being left alone was just fine, but he was too busy kicking his feet with joy at the attention he was getting.

"So I suppose you will just come with me." He patted his dog and stood. "I'm sure that that great fool Hagrid won't mind keeping an eye on you while I'm in classes. And this way I don't have to worry about you pissing in my house."

Slowly, ever so slowly, the words made sense to Sirius.

Hogwarts.

There were few worse places for a criminal to hide from the wizard cops.

But Sirius was not an ordinary criminal and he knew every secret hidey-hole in school.

There were worse places he could be going.

He jumped off the bed, tail wagging and barked happily.

Snape shook his head, smiling and took hold of Sirius' wide leather collar. "Come on, you big dummy."

* * *

an: I worry that this is getting a bit too serious. So, there will be a break in updates again untill I can figure out who Sirius ends up with, unless someone has any sugestions?


	13. in which Draco is tasted

an: sorry, this one is a little shorter than the others, but I like it anyhoo

* * *

It had been nearly nine years since Sirius came to be living as Snape's pet, and though he feared for his sanity or at least the very few bits of human thoughts he had left to him, he could not remember being happier. Summers were spent running about Spinner's End and the rest of his year was spent terrorizing first years at his old alma mater. Hagrid tried to keep him in line with choice steaks, but even the thickest cut of meat couldn't keep him from barreling down the halls when he knew that Snape's classes had let out for the day. And the Potion's Master would always sigh and berate him when the students were around, but as soon as the class had cleared it was all secret smiles and belly rubs.

Then Draco started his first year. Sirius might not have even noticed the boy if he hadn't knocked him flat on his arse the first day of class. It was one of Black's favorite pass times, bowling for first years, who were all terrified of the large bear-like dog that would romp through their midst knocking them and their scrolls up in the air before mercilessly licking their faces.

Draco had fallen just as easily as the rest of the children, but unlike most he promptly started shouting to be saved from the monster that was trying to eat him. It took Sirius almost four whole licks to realize that he recognized the platinum locks and pale, hard eyes. The boy looked nothing like the wee toddler that Sirius had cared for, but a Malfoy was still a Malfoy and the family resemblance could never be ignored.

_Has it really been that long?_ Sirius sat back on his haunches, panting and wagging happily while Snape cleared away the rest of the children and righted Draco, assuring the boy that he was just fine and he would get away without so much as a minor concussion. There was laughter from the other children as Snape glared them out of his classroom, but lingering near the back were two boys who seemed to stand out from the rest, on with hair so red that the boy had to be a one of Arthur and Molly's brood and the boy beside him, with his dark hair and dopy smile, Sirius thought for a second that he was seeing a ghost. But not with eyes like those, they had been bright green right before he left the room with his friends. It had to have been Harry, his godson. Sirius rushed to the closing door of the class, but wasn't fast enough and had no hands to pull the handle back open so he sat and whined after the boy who had left without knowing him.

Snape ignored the whining, like he always did and instead sat back at his desk and spoke quietly to Draco, asking after his parents and other things that wizarding etiquette demanded. Draco wanted nothing to do with the familiar ritual and instead was staring wide eyed at the overly loud dog scratching at the door.

"Professor, is that… is that Magnus?"

Snape was quiet, giving a scowl that was rarely seen by Slytherins. "I was there when your father told you that that dog died. You were very young, but I'm sure you remember."

Draco returned the frown, but his held much less heat or threat, being still young and unpracticed at such things. "I hate to disagree, but that is my dog, Professor. He is still wearing a collar that says 'Magnus'."

"Draco, you wouldn't want to be late to dinner." Snape stood, taking hold of Sirius' collar and holding him firmly at his side as he opened the door to the class and nodded to the sulking boy.

"I will be sending a letter to my Father."

"I'm sure he would love to hear from you." He closed the door behind the boy and leaned wearily against the wall. He was always a bit tired after coming back from summer's break, but he looked particularly beaten in that moment, though he would never have shown to anyone other than Sirius. Casting a simple locking spell on the door he pulled Sirius with him back to his desk and sat. "You wouldn't want to go back to your boy, would you?" He scratched on the dog's long ears, not seeming to like the way that Sirius kept turning his head back to the door. "Lucius already made it clear that you weren't to go back to their house, so you and Draco can just forget about it." His voice was tired from lecturing all day, but there was something else, something a bit… sad. It pulled Sirius back from his thought of his godson and he looked up at Snape.

It was the first time Sirius had ever seen such an expression on the man's face, except maybe back when they were students together. He looked hurt, hurt at the thought that his pet of so many years wanted to leave him for a spoiled little boy. Years ago Sirius might have felt victory at such a look, but he just felt guilt. He licked at Severus' face, wagging in the most reassuring way that he could. Yes he had missed Draco, but it was Harry that he wanted to chase after, though there was no sense in telling Snape such things. So he licked and head butted and playfully bit at the man until he was rewarded with a soft, candid laugh and the smallest kiss atop his shaggy head.

"Ah, I guess I'm just getting old and sentimental." Snape stood, but not before administering one more kiss between his dog's eyes. "I don't know what I was worrying about, Lucius would never let you back around his son, Sirius. Now come on, before the good seats are taken and we have to sit beside Flitwick."

They were halfway down to the main hall for dinner, before Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. Snape had never called him by his name before, he had never called him anything before. He had always just scratched him and smiled and moved on. Sirius stood staring blankly, his tail at half mast.

Snape looked back over his shoulder, and even though they were not entirely alone in the hallway, the man offered up the smallest, most Slytherin-like smile. "Come on now, you can't honestly think I'm so stupid that I didn't know. Now hurry up, I can't stand listening to that little git go on and on about how much promise his precious first year Ravenclaws are showing." He sniffed in distain. "It always ruins my appetite."

Sirius fought against his much more prominent canine mind that felt excited for food and instead tried to listen to the part of him that had a growing respect for the fact that Severus Snape had knowingly kept Sirius Black as a collared pet for nearly a decade. It was demeaning, and sneaky and underhandedly cruel in some ways, and Sirius was starving.

He trotted alongside Snape, tail wagging at their shared secret. They would talk later, using words for the first time in years, but for now they would eat.

Sirius always liked eating.


	14. in which a nose is bitten

"How long have you known?" Sirius found his voice to be much lower and gruff than he remembered, but he supposed that came from years of disuse. He was sitting, sprawled over Severus' most comfy chair that he always sat in to grade papers.

Severus had been left with the options of sitting on the desk, Sirius, or standing. The man stood, his usual humor towards his loyal pet had been replaced by quiet indifference. "This is my room, shouldn't you be on the floor where dogs belong?"

"I know bloody well how much you like your men on the floor, but you will have to just try and calm yourself." Sirius had to fight back the urge to taunt that was returning to him with exuberance. "How long did you know?"

"Since the first summer." His dark eyes flashed. "Get out of my chair."

Sirius stretched out his long legs, almost tripping Snape as he paced the room. "I deserve a chair once in a while." He lazily tugged on the thick collar he still wore, fiddling with the buckle. "You plan to turn me over to the Ministry?"

"If I did, don't you think I would have done it years ago?" Snape was sneering, finally just leaning against his desk to loom over Sirius.

"Hell, I don't know why you kept me in the first place. You're a demented old codger now, no telling what you might do."

"You were pronounced officially dead two years ago. Turning you in would only confuse those fools at the Ministry and open all sorts of questions as to where you've been."

"So…" Sirius frowned, "I just stay here then?"

"Or if you prefer I can always drown you in the lake, or just disembowel you right here." His pale, thin hands caught Sirius' collar and tightened it slightly, holding him still with that thin, faded piece of leather. "Or you can keep up your penance for seven years worth of tormenting me with you pals." He hissed out the last word, glowering over his captured Sirius.

"I've been keeping your feet warm for nine years, isn't that punishment enough?" Sirius heard himself saying the words, and he knew that they must have come from his reckless youth, because they surely did not reflect how he felt in that moment. He had enjoyed his time with Severus and honestly didn't want it to end. But he could never say such things to his childhood nemesis.

"From my calculations you own me twenty-one years of servitude. That will be seven years for you and your two lowlife friends who didn't have enough sense about themselves to stay alive."

"I would say that Remus has already made everything up to you… several times over, loudly, on the kitchen table. And as horrible as that must have been for him, we should all be even now."

Snape had never suffered from a hot temper like Sirius, so he didn't yell or get flustered, or even draw his wand, he just pulled the collar tighter and leaned closer. "You've always been a dog, Black. I much prefer the man properly reflecting the animal inside." He twisted his fingers round, making the leather creak softly. "I could make it permanent, you know."

Sirius was surprised, if not shocked at how much strength the Potions Master had in his thin hands. He knew he could break away from the other man with little effort, but he also knew that he would have to hurt him to do so, and as Sirius was still without a wand he did not think it wise. "If you wanted me stuck as an animagus, you would have done it already." His words were soft from not being able to get enough air, and it made his taunts less effective. "Or perhaps you can't. You were never much good at anything other than potions. Is that why you're stuck here and not teaching Defense against the Dark Arts like you keep trying for?" He made a soft strangled sound as the collar was finally pulled tight enough that he couldn't breathe. Without thinking he grabbed Snape and flung him away, off the desk and onto the floor.

Snape landed heavily, his head cracking against the hard stones. He went for his wand where it was tucked up his sleeve, but Sirius saw the small movement and leapt from the comfy chair, tackling the other man. They wrestled there on the floor, until finally Sirius pinned Snape, flat on his stomach with his thin arms twisted behind his back and his wand properly tossed across the room.

Wrestling as a man was oddly different from Sirius' doggy exploits and jaunts about the house and after squirrels and their like. He was out of breath, using muscles that he had not had to use in years. He tightened his knees around Snape's and lowered his head between the man's shoulder blades, panting softly. "You're a right slippery bastard, did you know that?"

"And you are a fat cow. Get off of me or I will hex that smile off your smug face." He hissed into the old stones that his face was pressed against.

"How'd you know I was smiling?" Sirius felt himself chuckling despite his tired and uncomfortable position.

"You're always smiling, even when you're a dog."

Carefully, and reluctantly, Sirius rolled Snape over, though he remained sitting on the man's legs just in case. His concerned proved to be rightly placed, because as soon as Snape's hands were no longer being forced into the small of his back he became a flailing whirlwind of struggling, misplaced slaps and kicks. It took nearly five minutes to get him back under control.

The two men sat, pressed against the side of Snape's desk with their legs entangled, holding each others' arms and panting heavily. Sirius could feel bruises forming under his left eye and along his jaw, but he could see the red teeth marks on Snape's nose where he had gotten a good bite in and it made the possible black eye worth it.

"How long are we to stay like this?" Snape was shaking, either from exhaustion or anger, but his voice remained steady.

"You gunna strangle me again?"

Snape shrugged indifferently, but his dark eyes were shining as he made a notable effort to restrain his amusement at their awkward position and the thought of strangling Sirius once more.

No longer able to hold it in, Sirius laughed, finally finding his old voice. At any other time, or with another person Sirius would have worried more, perhaps even been angry. But this was Severus, the lonely old lush who fed him peanut butter straight from the jar. He laughed until he had not more breath in him to do so, and Snape easily pushed him to the floor, wresting Sirius' arms down to his chest where he leaned all of his punitive weight down on the still laughing man.

"Are you quite done?" Snape asked in his lazy, un-amused droll, even though the corners of his lips were struggling to fight down one of his strange smiles.

Sirius struggled slightly, but fond his arms successfully trapped, he would have to wait for his strength to return. "For now. But as soon as you let me up, I'm going for that giant growth on your face again." He playfully nipped at the man's nose and was rewarded with a boney knee dug into his hip.

"I think those years in Azkaban and then stuck as a dog has really taken its toll." Snape shook some hair from his eyes, but his dark locks were quick to fall back over his face. "You're a complete nutter."

Sirius only grinned, not able to hold onto any of the anger that would have saved him when he was much younger. "Yeah, but it's not so bad. I've still got you."

Then the room was quiet.

Quiet and unfathomably awkward.

Sirius tried a smile, but it withered quickly from the look he was given.

He cleared his throat, and searched back and forth in his limited range of sight.

Severus wasn't moving, wasn't even blinking.

So, Sirius did what came naturally to him (or at least had for many years thus far) and licked Snape's face in what would have been a reassuring way if he had been a dog. As a man, it only increased the level of uncomfortableness in the room tenfold.

Laying back and thinking over the new, yet familiar taste in his mouth, Sirius frowned. "You taste horrible. Did you get potion on your face today?"

He did not receive an answer, just a kiss, long and slow and somehow more confusing and more uneasy than everything else leading up to it. Snape pulled back just enough to breathe, his long fingered hands ever so gently petting Sirius' arms. "You taste horrible. What have you been eating today?"

"One of your shoes," Sirius said laughing. He remembering faintly a Christmas party many years ago, and a sloppy drunken snog in the boughs of an evergreen. Plastered to the floor, much older and far more mad than he had been back then, Sirius Black found that he did not want to punch or run away like back then. It had been so long since anyone had touched him so gently or intimately. He freed his arms from where they had stayed trapped between them, moving so slowly as if he feared to ruin the moment with anything that could be construed as a threat. He pulled the old teacher in, far more gently than he had ever pulled anyone.

And Sirius ignored the bitter tang of potion smoke for as long as Severus pretended that the leathery taste of shoe did not bother him.

* * *

AN:

This will not be the last part, though I suppose I could end it here?

I've already got another chapter ready, but I've got to think about it for a bit first.

Somehow a story that was mean to be blackXmalfoy became something else. I just need to figure out if I want to just let it roll, or bring it back where it was suppose to be.


	15. in which a spell is cast

"So, are you just going to pretend that it didn't happen then?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Snape sighed in annoyance as he looked over his class work for the next day, but the slight rosiness to his cheeks and the disheveled state of his cravat said that any feelings of unhappiness were fully fabricated.

"The snog on the floor… and the desk and the stairs and the bed." Sirius was taking his turn at pacing the room. He was feeling a bit flustered himself, but not in a way that he minded. What he did mind was the fact that Snape had ended the whole adventure just as suddenly as he had started it and was pretending to work instead of taking his clothes off.

"Are you feeling entirely well, Black? Perhaps this human form doesn't agree with your delicate psyche." He offered in a non interested way as he unrolled another scroll.

"You kissed me." He leaned over the desk, trying to get in the way of all the paperwork so that Severus would have to pay attention to him.

"That seems highly unlikely." He simply started working around the frustrated man. And Sirius knew that on the inside Snape had to be laughing at him.

"You had a hand in my pants." Sirius pushed his head against Snape's, tousling their hair together.

"That never happened." There was the slightest of head nuzzles in return, but it was possible that Sirius had imagined it.

"MY P-A-N-T-S." He sounded it out slowly and perhaps a bit louder than he should have.

"I would hope that no one would be foolish enough to venture anywhere near such parts of you. You probably have scurvy, or the clap, or Merlin only knows what else."

"I don't have the clap!" Sirius leaned back, his playful frustrations turning to something closer to offence.

"Syphilis?" Snape looked up, his black eyes twinkling in amusement.

Sirius growled softly and took Snape by the shoulders, pushing the chair forcibly back from the desk. "I don't have syphilis, or anything else for that matter. You were kissing me, you smarmy arse and you liked it!"

"We can't all live in a magically delusional world like you, Black. Now, I have to prepare for my lesson tomorrow." Severus took a quill in hand and began looking over his notes as if there was not a towering and flustered man looming over him and glairing for all the world like a petulant child being denied a favorite desert.

Sullenly, Sirius sank to the floor at Snape's feet, as was customary for every night for the last nine years and rested his head against the black trouser leg. And just like every night for the last nine years one of the potion and ink stained hands started to lazily scratch his head.

Nothing had changed with the fact that Sirius had become a man again. He was still Snape's pet. He didn't know what he had expected to change, or even if he wanted it to. But he sat there on the cold floor, leaning heavily against the man's leg getting one of the best head scratches in his life and honestly he wanted more. Being a pet wasn't so bad, and James had always said that he had a much sweeter disposition as an animagus than as a human. He turned his grey eyes up to the man so engrossed in his work that he could not even be bother by the fact that he was luxuriously petting his childhood nemesis.

Sirius felt a smile start to form. Why should it be strange that Snape would pet him? The man had known for almost a decade who exactly was sleeping beside him and sharing his meals. Snape had never minded. Other than that first summer, Remus never really came around much, in fact Sirius didn't think that there had been a visit between the two in quite a few years. Snape was lonely. It explained the willingness to befriend the boy who had tormented him for so many years, even if that was obviously not Severus' original intention in taking him into his home. But here they were, as familiar as an old couple spending a quiet evening in.

"Snape?"

He grunted softly, not taking his eyes from the papers strewn about.

"Severus?"

"Hu?" He still did not look at the man sitting on his feet.

"Do you like me?"

"You could always be worse I suppose." Came the resounding approval from the teacher.

"Do you fancy me?" Sirius tried a more direct approach. He could not voice his own feeling until he knew how Snape felt.

He chuckled softly, one of the least Slytherin like sounds he had ever made and then simply returned to his work.

"Was that a yes?" Sirius caught the hand that was tangled in his hair and lightly pressed it to his cheek.

"That was an I'm working and don't have time for your silly games."

"You kissed me." He pointed out, liking the way that Snape's thumb was lazily touching his lips.

"I was momentarily charmed by the fact that your unhealthy and dismal existence was made slightly better by you stuck with me as your only companionship. I got over it."

"You do fancy me. You're just being difficult."

"I know you may find it difficult to cope with when the whole of the world doesn't fall at your feet in adoration, myself included. But the fact of the matter is, you are a shaggy and unkempt loon with no manners, no attention span and you smell of old shoes. No one in their right mind would fancy you."

"I like you too." Sirius lightly kissed the fingers that had strayed too close to his mouth.

Snape only chuckled again and kept on working.

The smile had turned to a scowl. Sirius was the one meant to be doing the teasing. He did not know when Snape had developed a sense of humor, but he didn't think he cared for it, not when it was used against him. He kept kissing the fingers that tasted like daisy roots and rat tails trying to think of a way to break through the mocking barrier of smarm and class work that Severus had built so strongly around himself. Feeling sly he carefully started to unbutton the cuff of Snape's shirt, exposing a few more inches of his lily white wrist. It was going well with each new inch of skin and each new kiss, until his lips brushed against the dark brand on the man's arm that he always made an effort to keep hidden from everyone.

"Enough." He snapped, swatting at Sirius' nose and resting his arm up on the desk where the amorous man could not reach it.

"You know, I've seen it before." It wasn't that Black approved of the dark mark, and certainly he was against what it stood for, but that was a life time ago and Snape was no longer that man.

"Quiet. I'm working." He grumbled and would not return to his head scratching, or cheek stroking or any other of the tender mercies he had so recently been administering.

Sirius would have tucked his tail between his legs if he had one, but not even a light slap and a stern no would deter him in that moment. He settled himself between the man's unwelcoming legs and encircled his thin waist in a hug. He buried his face in the dark robes that smelled of smoke and herbs and under that, the simple human smell that was Severus. Sirius sought out that smell, he craved it, he burrowed through layers of heavy robes and starched dress shirt, past off white shell buttons, all until he found the gloriously scented expanse of skin over Severus' taunt abdomen.

The Potions Master seemed to be trying his best to ignore the attentions and the harder and more determined Sirius' affections became, the more engrossed Snape became in his paperwork. Buttons were un buttoned and cloth was pressed aside to give more room for the lingering kisses and finally, as such kisses moved farther and farther south, did Snape finally acknowledge the man perched between his knees.

The parchment and scrolls were all pushed aside, along with the old, brittle quill as Severus' hands found purchase instead in Sirius' tangled locks.

Though when he had first heard the lustfully heavy breathing from Snape years ago, Sirius found it not only disturbing but nauseating. At that time Remus had been the one lucky enough to the recipient of such throaty, welcoming sounds and Sirius had been left forlorn and in the basement, jealous of the activities and goings on above him. This night, however, it was his name that fell from Severus' lips and it was his lips that were bruised with wanton abandon and heated kisses that would never be equaled.

Hours later, when the only light in Severus' bedroom was a single guttering candle that threatened to die out any moment, Sirius held the most hated enemy of his childhood in a loose hug, watching the flickering light playing over his sleepy features. He kissed Snape lightly, liking the returned kiss that tapered into a long yawn and ended with a languid smile.

"Hey, Snape?" Black whispered, not wanting to spoil the dreamlike calm that had settled around them.

Severus mumbled something incoherent against his shoulder and held him a little tighter.

"Do you fancy me?"

The laughter came again. It was the secret and open laughter that was only ever reserved for Sirius. "Most emphatically not."

Sirius pouted, and then laughed too as he stole another kiss. "Good, I take back what I said earlier. I don't like you much at all."

"Well, that's a relief. Think of what our children would look like."

"Oh, the poor things. We would have to have them humanely put down for their own good."

The candle finally gave up and they laughed in the darkness. They laughed at themselves and each other and the fact that they were both old fools.

As Sirius was finally falling asleep he felt more than heard Snape whispering against his ear. He pulled himself up out of his half slumber. "Whu?"

"I'm cold, Sirius."

"And?" He was too tired to understand what he was being asked.

"Would you mind being more… dog like? You're much warmer that way."

"Weird old man." He murmured affectionately, stealing one last goodnight kiss before finding his canine form.

"Did you know, Sirius," the man whispered against his long furry ears in the softest, most kind voice he had ever used when speaking to him, "that if you lost your memories right now, that you would never remember being a man?"

Sirius raised one shaggy dog eyebrow at the sudden line of thought.

"You would just be a dog, and never think you had been anything different." It was almost a sad tone and Sirius didn't care for it. He licked Snape in the most reassuring way that he could, tail wagging beneath the sheets. He had no intention of losing any memories and Snape was just strange for even worrying about such things.

"I would miss this." Snape was smiling softly under the wet doggy kisses. "I would miss you." He was whispering again, as if that small confession would cost him too much if anyone were to hear. "But for you there wouldn't be anyone other than me. You would never leave."

Sirius lightly butted heads, in a gentle agreement and a 'go to sleep'. Their night had been memorable and wonderful and it did not need to be ruined by such dower sentiments.

They settled in to a comfortable silence and Sirius was quick to find the sleep that had been waiting for him, but just as his breaths slowed and his eyelids were too heavy to keep open, he thought he heard Snape whisper "Obliviate." against his ear.

* * *

AN:: all right, all my lovelies.

There is only one more chapter to go and I promise it has a happy ending.

And even if the plot has gone compleetly awol, thanks to all who stuck it out while I tried to figure out what I'm doing over here.


	16. in which a memory is lost

No one could have asked for a nicer dog than Magnus. He was affectionate, loyal and had the sweetest temperament of any pet to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts. No one complained about the dog except two first years, one with hair that was almost white who always tried to tug on Magnus' collar and spoke in a disrespectful tone to his Boss, the other was another boy, but with dark hair and stupid looking glasses. That boy had never done anything to Magnus, except offer him a hand to sniff, but it was obvious that his Boss didn't care for the boy, so the dog did his best to snub the child.

School years were spent romping down corridors and summers were spent napping near his Boss' feet or chasing squirrels. No dog could have asked for more. Sometimes he did worry though, because even the most content of creatures still has to worry sometimes.

He worried for his Boss. Boss was a kindly sort of fellow, who did not smile much, especially not when there were children around, or old men with long beards. But as months turned to years, Magnus noticed the Boss smiled less and less when they were alone together. And some nights, when Boss had had his fill of bitter smelling drinks he would hug his dog firmly round the neck and tremble. Magnus did not mind too much, he liked when Boss held him, and he got to lick the salty wetness from Boss' cheeks, and that always elicited a depressingly sad smile. But a smile was still a smile, and so the dog had done his job as a perfect companion.

It was not until twenty-one years later (that is dog years of coarse, in human years it had only been three, but Magnus chose not to use any interspecies counting systems) that a proper upset came into his blissful doggy life.

A man came to the Boss' school. A man not so tall, with sandy colored hair and clothes with patches who the Boss seemed to like. In fact it seemed that Boss liked the funny smelling man more than his pet, because whenever the man came around, Boss would leave their room with the man and not return for hours. Magnus started to hate that man. He could hear when he came downstairs, could tell it was him outside of Boss' door before even Boss knew who it was. One time, Boss had gone off to dinner early and the man came by. Magnus could not open the door, but he did bark. He barked even when the man tried talking to him. Then the man left and Magnus knew at that point that he had chased away the Boss stealing man who smelled so strange.

But his efforts proved to be somewhat unsuccessful and later that night, when he was laying comfortably on his Boss' feet and all the lights were low, the man came back. And when Boss opened the door, the funny man pushed his way in. The two talked, quietly at first, then the fair haired man talked a lot louder all the while staring intensely at Magnus. The man came closer to him, holding out a hand and it was the first time in Magnus' life that he remembered growling at someone. Then the man yelled at his Boss, but Boss just got quieter and more upset looking.

Magnus chased the man out of their room, barking and growling and making such an angry fuss until the bad man left him and Boss alone. He returned to his barefooted, shaken looking Boss and sat at his feet, wagging and licking his hands. Boss collapsed around him again and stayed that way, no bitter smelling drink required. They slept there on the floor, and although Magnus did not know why, he did not mind. Why would he mind, as long as he could be with his Boss?

After that Boss spent a lot of time with old books and occasionally forced foul tasting potions into the back of Magnus' mouth. They made him feel sick and this seemed to upset Boss, so it was ok. Boss was not meaning to hurt him. They still loved each other.

More years passed, both human and dog years alike. The bad tasting drinks became less and less frequent but the sandy haired man who had yelled at Boss did not return, so life was not all together bad.

The worst tasting potion of all came into this mouth late one night, when Boss had been looming over one of his cauldrons all day and the whole room was choked with smoke. This one made him far more sick than any other potion had ever done. He lay on the floor, panting and cringing, trying to curl around the pain in his stomach. Boss was at his side, petting his head and helping him to sit, despite the pain that was already fading. But sitting seemed strange, his legs felt all wrong, and when Magnus looked down he saw, not his normal black fuzzy legs, but long pale legs like Boss'. It was distressing, and he whimpered into Boss' shoulder.

At first Boss acted happy, smiling for the first time in months, but then he became upset, then angry. Things were thrown about the room and he used words that Magnus could not remember him ever using before. He crawled to Boss and licked his hands, wanting him to know it was ok. He would just get used to having a different body, even if it was a little cold. Boss sank to the floor and let Magnus lick his face while he talked to himself in the most miserable way imaginable.

Magnus kept his funny body, and he looked a bit like Boss did, so that was not so bad. How could it be bad that they were so much the same now? But it did upset his Boss, so after a while, Magnus made a point to stay out of sight. There were no more head scratches, no more sleeping on Boss' feet and no more running down hallways or chasing squirrels. It did not take long before Magnus was the saddest pet to have ever graced the halls of Hogwarts.

The more time Boss spent away from his rooms, the more depressed Magnus became until he could not take it anymore and he went looking for his lost human. The old people and children alike were quite distressed when he came sniffing around them looking for any signs of his wayward companion.

The most upset of all was a horrible and short woman in a hideous pink dress and matching sweater. She yelled at him and made such a big fuss that he was forced to bite her. After that things got complicated and much worse. There were men in fancy robes and ones in suits and they all whisked him far from the school and his Boss. They tried to make his wear people clothes and sit on people chairs like people do and he hated those men. He barked and growled and bit at them until they finally kept their distance. Magnus just wanted to leave the big stone building they had brought him to and go back to Boss.

He was brought to a different room with many more men and even some ladies, all looking stern and unhappy to see a dog pretending to be people. Magnus saw the funny smelling man who used to try and steal his Boss, sitting near the back, not dressed nearly as nicely but looking far more upset than angry like everyone else did. Magnus felt hopeful for a bit, seeing that man. Maybe that man would tell his Boss about the people who had nabbed him. But the strange little man didn't have to leave, Boss was there sitting next to him, not looking at him… not looking at anything.

Magnus barked happily and tried to run to his Boss, but the chains that the men in suits had put around his ankles held him back. He sat on the floor and whimpered while the men all talked to each other. Perhaps they spoke to him too, but Magnus did not care. He could not answer then even if he wanted to. All he wanted was for the Boss to notice him and take him away from all of the rigmarole and nonsense that he had found himself in. He kept barking, trying to get Boss to look at him. He barked until one of the men put a spell on him and his voice became silent.

So he sat silently, forlorn and unloved in the center of the room while people spoke and his Boss ignored him. Finally the men made him stand, even though being on only two legs made him uneasy and a bit wobbly. Though the men spoke to him, he paid them no mind. He only had eyes for Boss. And, as if it were the most glorious moment or any day he had live though,(?) Boss finally looked at him. Eyes black at pitch met his own stormy grey eyes and Boss was smiling. Not his old sad smiles, but one that was made of victory and cunning, just how Boss should always smile. The men tried to take Magnus away and he struggled against them, strained to get to his happy and welcoming Boss. But Boss only waved goodbye, just like his had hundreds of times before, but Magnus did not think that he would be seeing Boss again.

He could not understand why Boss would be so happy about such a thing.

Something was wrong.

Magnus bit at the men who held him, he thrashed against them but they were so many and he was only one lonely dog.

()

Sirius sat up in bed, panting and slick with sweat. He looked at his arms in a panic. They were still people arms and it seemed strange to him to worry that they might not have been.

It had been a nightmare.

He told himself over and over again.

Laying beside him, sleeping like a lamb, was a languid and freshly debauched Severus.

Sirius was still upset about his dream, still roiling inside from the anger and the betrayal of _Boss_ tricking him. Stealing his memories and leaving him as a dog.

His memories.

He had not dreamt that part.

He could remember Severus talking softly to him as he fell asleep.

But was he missing any memories? How was he supposed to remember a memory that was gone?

"Hey!" He smacked Severus with a pillow, none too gently.

"Bloody he-" But Severus' words were muffled as the pillow hit him again.

"What did you do?" Sirius demanded, rolling over to straddle the other man, holding his shoulders down firmly and scowling. Whatever they had done the night before, whatever trust that they had shared in those hours that they were entwined, it did not matter.

"I knew it was a bad decision to trust you. You really are a complete madman." Snape was oddly calm when faced with almost certain violence first thing in the morning.

"What am I forgetting, Severus? What did you do to me?"

"I have no idea what you're getting on about. Now if you will kindly get off, I need to get ready for breakfast."

"I heard you last night." He would not get up, would not let go. "What did you do to me?"

"Don't you think," he lightly placed a hand on either of the man's knees, seeming to bring into great clarity that neither of them had a stitch of clothing on, "that if I wanted to do something to you, I would have done it years ago, or when you were asleep."

"You stole my memories and I was stuck as a dog." He shook the man under him roughly. "And then you were dating Remus again, then you shipped me off to Azkaban and you were smiling!"

"Did I?" Snape raised one of his brows in mild amusement. "All of that last night?"

"I… it was a dream… but I know you did something to me last night."

"The only thing I did to you last night was make you beg." The smallest of smirks passed over his lips. "And if you get off of me, and you behave well today, I might be so kind as to do it again tonight."

"But… you-"

"You had a bad dream, Black." Snape gently pushed the encumbering arms off of his shoulder and sat up, so very close and so very intimate. "It probably came from an upset stomach from eating my shoes."

Feeling somewhat silly and only slightly embarrassed Sirius shrugged it off. How could he think that Severus would do something like that, especially after last night? It was just a bad dream, he reminded himself and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry… not about the shoe.. but yeah." He rolled away and lay amongst the tousled sheets, watching Severus get ready for the day. "I guess maybe I'm still a bit.. you know."

"Stark raving mad? Yes, you seem to delight in reminding me." He tied his cravat and leaned over the bed, stealing a surprising, but most welcome kiss.

"If I promise to be good, can I come to class with you today?" Sirius asked with their lips still pressed together.

Snape sighed, but he still wore the smallest of smiles. "Only if you promise."

Breakfast was delicious and the bad dream of the previous night was quickly forgotten as he was fed bits of sausage under the table.

After breakfast they made their way to the dungeons for class, but they had hardly reached the staircase when a thin and dark haired boy in stupid glasses approached and foolishly petted at Sirius' head. Black stopped, used to the children petting him when they thought Snape might not notice.

"Potter." But Snape had noticed. "This is not a petting zoo. Since you show a distinct lack of urgency to get to your first class, my class, that will be ten points from Gryffindor."

The boy looked bitter and disappointed and left with ginger boy straggling behind, both boys shooting back angry, but fearful glances at their towering potions teacher.

"It that boy touches you again, you have my permission to bite him."

Sirius wagged playfully. He tended to leave the Gryffindors alone, but he could always make an exception for Snape.

"And that pale one over there," Snape covertly pointed to a Slytherin who was attempting to trip the boy in the ugly glasses, "You can bite him if he comes anywhere near you, just not hard, he belongs to Lucius."

Sirius barked, startling many of the first years, but he didn't care. Permission to bite a Slytherin? No better offer had ever been given. He wagged happily and followed Snape down the stairs. He was in high spirits, completely pushing away any of the lingering doubt that Snape might have stolen his memories. It was just what he said. A bad dream from eating shoes again.

Together the two went to the first class of the day, just an old professor and his shaggy black dog.


End file.
